Sci-Tech

New compound exhibits unconventional superconductivity

2025-01-25   

A research team from Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan has recently made a significant breakthrough. They synthesized a novel transition metal zirconate composed of iron, nickel, and zirconium, which exhibits unconventional superconductivity at specific composition ratios. The relevant research was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Alloys and Compounds. Superconductors play an important role in modern technology due to their zero resistance characteristics and strong magnetic levitation capabilities, such as their applications in medical imaging equipment and power transmission systems. However, most known superconducting materials require cooling to extremely low temperatures (close to absolute zero), which limits their widespread applications. Therefore, finding superconducting materials that can operate at higher temperatures has always been a focus of scientists' efforts, especially those that can operate at temperatures of 77K or above, as this temperature allows for the use of low-cost liquid nitrogen as a coolant instead of expensive liquid helium. The discovery of iron-based superconductors in 2008 brought hope for high-temperature superconductivity, and research from Tokyo Metropolitan University further suggests that materials containing magnetic elements may be crucial for unconventional superconductivity. They prepared polycrystalline iron nickel zirconium alloys using arc melting technology and observed a superconducting transition temperature region that varied with the iron nickel ratio, showing a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, forming a "dome". Although iron zirconate and nickel zirconium alone do not possess superconducting properties, the alloys formed when they are combined with different proportions of iron and nickel exhibit this dome shaped phase diagram - a significant feature of unconventional superconductors. In addition, the experiment also revealed magnetic transition anomalies in the magnetization of nickel zirconate, suggesting that the superconductivity of the new alloy may be related to magnetic sequence. This discovery not only provides a new perspective for understanding unconventional superconducting mechanisms, but also opens up a path for developing next-generation superconducting device material designs. (New Society)

Edit:He Chuanning Responsible editor:Su Suiyue

Source:Sci-Tech Daily

Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email:lwxsd@liaowanghn.com

Recommended Reading Change it

Links