Nanoscale Study of Unconventional Superconductivity and Topological Phenomena in Complex Oxide and Intermetallic Materials

该项目旨在研究，使用纳米测量和合成技术的独特组合，在几个复杂的氧化物和金属间化合物材料的非常规超导性和拓扑现象。 复合氧化物包括过渡金属铜酸盐和铼酸盐。金属间化合物包括铁-磷属元素化物/硫属元素化物和重金属硫属元素化物。 这些材料和基于它们的纳米层异质结构将使用冷磁扫描隧道光谱和点接触Andreev反射光谱进行测量，测量范围低至300 mK，高达16特斯拉。样品将是单晶或薄膜的形式。复合氧化物薄膜将外延生长使用脉冲激光烧蚀沉积，这使得通过原位生长监测与反射高能电子衍射层的异质结构。 该项目的科学目标是研究这些量子材料现象的基本特征，以阐明潜在的物理机制。 技术目标是利用这些材料现象用于纳米电子器件，如高速场效应晶体管，以及更深奥的应用，如拓扑量子计算元件。

This project is intended to study, using a unique combination of nanoscale measurement and synthesis techniques, the unconventional superconductivity and topological phenomena in several complex oxide and intermetallic materials. The complex oxides include the transition-metal cuprates and ruthenates. The intermetallic compounds include the iron-pnictides/chalcogenides and the heavy-metal chalcogenides. These materials and nanolayered heterostructures based on them will be measured using cryomagnetic scanning tunneling spectroscopy and point contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy, performed down to 300mK and up to 16Tesla. The samples will be in the form of single crystals or thin films. The complex-oxide thin films will be epitaxially grown using pulsed laser-ablated deposition, which enables layer-by-layer heterostructuring via in-situ growth monitoring with reflective high-energy electron diffraction. The scientific goal of this project is to examine the essential characteristics of these quantum materials phenomena, towards elucidating the underlying physical mechanisms. The technological goal is to harness these materials phenomena for use in nanoelectronic devices such as high-speed field effect transistors, and in more esoteric applications such as topological quantum computing elements.