Searching for new superconducting 2D materials can provide clues to many of the fabrication and materials challenges of superconducting quantum processors currently using conventional materials such as aluminum, niobium, and silicon.
TMDs are exotic metals that can naturally be fabricated into very thin layers with a well-defined crystalline structure ideally suited for experimentation and devices. They display unique physical properties from the interactions of their electrons.
The electrons can be localized to a few atoms interacting more strongly with each other. The densely packed, closely interacting electrons can trigger unique properties and behaviors such as superconductivity and itinerant magnetism. Superconductivity enables the movement of an electrical charge through the metal with little to no resistance. Itinerant magnetism occurs when electrons transfer magnetism from one atom to another instead of being localized to a fixed position.
An important finding in the scientific literature is that materials are generally superconductors or magnets, but not both. However, the itinerant magnetism phase is close to the superconductivity transition. Hence, detecting strong magnetic properties in the crystalline structure of a TMD is a great starting point for searching for new superconductors. But, the degree to which the interplay of itinerant magnetism and superconductivity are found in TMDs has not been well understood.
NiTa4Se8 is an emerging class of intercalated TMD with strongly correlated electrons that move in two-dimensional planes with a ferromagnetic (nickel) layer, making the interaction or correlation between electrons stronger. QSA researchers involved in the series of experiments characterized the electronic conduction properties—transport properties—in NiTa4Se8, observing both itinerant magnetism and superconductivity.
"I find it very inspiring that physical laws are often related to an understanding of symmetries, so when I'm studying new materials that have unique internal symmetries, be the configuration of different atoms or what their local or global environment is, I know it will result in a different set of properties for the system," said James Analytis, associate professor at UC Berkeley and faculty scientist at Berkeley Lab, is the paper's experimental lead.
To study the properties of superconductivity and itinerant magnetism, the researchers needed to understand the internal symmetries of the material. Analytis and the team synthesized the different symmetry configurations in NiTa4Se8, manipulating the system of atoms and electrons in the layered crystalline metal through various chemical processing and techniques.
The series of experiments allowed researchers to study how electrons behaved in NiTa4Se8 by stacking, manipulating, and controlling them in th
e laboratory.
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