Superconductivity in a quintuple-layer square-planar nickelate
ORAL
Abstract
Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxide materials, there have been sustained efforts to both understand the origins of this phase and discover new cuprate-like superconductors. One prime materials candidate has been the rare-earth nickelates and indeed superconductivity was recently discovered in the doped compound Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2. Undoped NdNiO2 belongs to a series of layered square-planar nickelates with chemical formula Ndn+1NinO2n+2 and is known as the ‘infinite-layer’ (n = ∞) nickelate. Here, using reactive oxide molecular beam epitaxy, which provides atomic level layer-by-layer control of thin film synthesis, we design and synthesize the quintuple-layer (n = 5) member of this series, Nd6Ni5O12, which achieves optimal cuprate-like electron filling (3d8.8) without chemical doping. We observe a superconducting transition beginning at ~13 K. Electronic structure calculations, in tandem with magnetoresistive and spectroscopic measurements, suggest that Nd6Ni5O12 interpolates between cuprate-like and infinite-layer nickelate-like behavior. In engineering a distinct superconducting nickelate, we identify the square-planar nickelates as a new family of superconductors which can be tuned via both doping and dimensionality.
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Publication: Superconductivity in a quintuple-layer square-planar nickelate. In press, Nature Materials (2021).
Presenters
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Grace A Pan
- Harvard University