Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Template engineering demonstrates possibilities of new superconducting material

Chang-Beom Eom
Chang-Beom Eom

Abstract:
A breakthrough approach by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and their collaborators in fabricating thin films of a new superconducting material has yielded promising results: The material has a current-carrying potential 500 times that of previous experiments, making it significant for a variety of practical applications.

By Sandra Knisely

Template engineering demonstrates possibilities of new superconducting material

Madison, WI | Posted on March 1st, 2010

The new approach and results appeared online in the journal Nature Materials on February 28 and illustrate a significant step forward in superconductor research.

"We've shown how to grow quality, single-crystal thin films of this class of materials, so people can study the fundamental properties and limits of them," says Chang-Beom Eom, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the collaboration between UW-Madison and teams from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the University of Michigan.

Superconductors are powerful materials that conduct electricity with no resistance, meaning no loss of electricity. Among the various possibilities of superconductors, a team in Japan is exploring how to make high-speed, levitating trains with superconductors that theoretically could travel almost as fast as airplanes. More immediately, superconductors are used in MRI machines.

While superconductors have enormous potential, they only work at very low temperatures. The copper-oxide-based superconductors, which have the highest operating temperature, work at approximately minus 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another major challenge is how much current superconductors can carry. For example, a levitating train would require a superconductor and magnet larger than currently is practical. However, if a superconductor had high current-carrying abilities, the mass of the superconductor and magnet theoretically could be small enough for real applications.

This second challenge is part of what Eom's team has addressed. Recently, scientists have discovered an alternative to copper-oxide superconductors. Called pnictides, the materials are based on iron and arsenide and are promising because they have relatively high transition temperatures, along with other ideal properties.

Until now, no one has been able to study the intrinsic properties of pnictides because it has been impossible to fabricate a single crystal of it with all of the material grains pointing in the same direction. "The quality of the films is crucial because imperfect films contain many crystal boundaries, which obstruct the current, as work published by our team late last year has shown," says Eom.

Eom and his team hypothesized that the pnictide thin films couldn't grow properly because the substrate used most commonly by researchers is oxide-based. Thin films like to grow in the same way as the material beneath them. Hence, the metallic-based pnictides couldn't thrive on the oxide substrate.

The researchers then engineered a thin template to place on top of the oxide substrate. This template has both metallic and oxide elements, meaning it can interface with both the substrate and the thin film. With the template, the film grows in a more ideal arrangement. The template also acts as a nucleation layer, or barrier, between the conducting thin film and the non-conducting, or insulating, substrate. (The template can't be used as the substrate itself because it becomes conducting when the film grows. As a very thin, intermediate layer, the template allows the film to grow, but has only a negligible effect on electrical measurements.)

Previously, researchers were only able to measure 10,000 amps of electricity per .06 cubic inch, which is a relatively useless amount. With the template, which is made of barium titanate or strontium titanate, Eom's team has demonstrated that pnictide thin films are capable of producing 5 million amps per .06 cubic inch — a 500-fold increase that brings pnictide current capacity into the usable range.

The team's three-pronged research — including the hypothesis about why previous approaches failed, the new template engineering solution and the significant carrying capacity results — will help other researchers learn more about pnictides and expand basic knowledge about superconductivity in general. Beyond superconductors, the template approach can be applied whenever a researcher wants to grow a metallic film on an oxide substrate.

"When any new material is discovered, we want to understand the fundamental mechanisms of it," says Eom. "We now have perfect, single-crystal thin films of pnictides in order to do that."

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Chang-Beom Eom

608-263-6305

Copyright © University of Wisconsin-Madison

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Thin films

Understanding the mechanism of non-uniform formation of diamond film on tools: Paving the way to a dry process with less environmental impact March 24th, 2023

New study introduces the best graphite films: The work by Distinguished Professor Feng Ding at UNIST has been published in the October 2022 issue of Nature Nanotechnology November 4th, 2022

Thin-film, high-frequency antenna array offers new flexibility for wireless communications November 5th, 2021

Leibniz Prize winner Professor Dr. Oliver G. Schmidt moves to Chemnitz University of Technology: President Professor Dr. Gerd Strohmeier refers to an 'absolute top transfer' September 10th, 2021

Possible Futures

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Discoveries

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024

Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers: Tandem electrocatalytic-thermocatalytic conversion could help offset emissions of potent greenhouse gas by locking carbon away in a useful material January 12th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Alliances/Trade associations/Partnerships/Distributorships

Manchester graphene spin-out signs $1billion game-changing deal to help tackle global sustainability challenges: Landmark deal for the commercialisation of graphene April 14th, 2023

Chicago Quantum Exchange welcomes six new partners highlighting quantum technology solutions, from Chicago and beyond September 23rd, 2022

CEA & Partners Present ‘Powerful Step Towards Industrialization’ Of Linear Si Quantum Dot Arrays Using FDSOI Material at VLSI Symposium: Invited paper reports 3-step characterization chain and resulting methodologies and metrics that accelerate learning, provide data on device pe June 17th, 2022

University of Illinois Chicago joins Brookhaven Lab's Quantum Center June 10th, 2022

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project