Researchers Discover New Way to Control Superconductivity in Engineered Material
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A team led by Ohio State University physicists has found they can switch superconductivity on and off by tuning the environment around a specially engineered material. The discovery, which challenges conventional expectations, could help researchers better understand and control superconductivity for future applications.
Facts First
- Researchers can switch superconductivity on and off by tuning the environment around a material made from twisted bilayer graphene and strontium titanate.
- Electron interactions proved unexpectedly important, with the team finding they could strengthen or weaken them to control the superconducting state.
- The finding challenges conventional theory, as increasing certain adjustments weakened superconductivity instead of strengthening it.
- The research was published in Nature Physics and supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- The mechanism is not yet fully understood, but the lead author states the result can help guide future work.
What Happened
A research team led by Chun Ning (Jeanie) Lau... has discovered a new method to control superconductivity. They focused on a material engineered from twisted bilayer graphene—two sheets of carbon rotated slightly relative to each other—combined with strontium titanate. By tuning the environment around this material, the team found they could strengthen or weaken electron interactions and switch superconductivity on and off. They observed that increasing certain adjustments within the material made superconductivity weaker, a result that contradicts conventional superconductivity theory.
Why this Matters to You
This research may lead to a better understanding of superconductivity, a phenomenon where materials carry electricity with zero energy loss. A deeper understanding could eventually influence the development of more efficient electrical systems and technologies, potentially affecting the cost and reliability of energy transmission and electronic devices in the long term.
What's Next
The mechanism of superconductivity in the twisted bilayer graphene system used is still not well understood, according to lead author Xueshi Gao. However, Gao stated that the team's result can shed light on and help people better understand the concept when applying it to future work. Further research is likely to build on these findings to explore how environmental tuning can be used to design new superconducting materials.