Intrinsic magnetism in superconducting infinite-layer nickelates
- Journal:
- Nature Physics
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1038/s41567-022-01684-y
- Affiliations:
- 8
- Authors:
- 13
Research Highlight
Magnetism found in a family of unconventional superconductors
© olaser/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images
A recently discovered family of superconducting materials are magnetic — an important clue for discovering how they superconduct.
The superconducting mechanism of conventional, low-temperature superconductors has been well established. But despite decades of research, it still remains unclear how unconventional superconductors superconduct at high temperatures.
Now, a team led by researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland has discovered that superconductors belonging to the nickelate family, which were first found to superconduct in 2019, are also magnetic. This is in contrast with much more studied cuprate unconventional superconductors, which are not magnetic.
The team also found that the magnetism exists regardless of whether nickelates are in a superconducting state or not.
This finding is significant as it will help physicists explore the connection between superconductivity and magnetism — a topic about which there has been much debate.
References
- Nature Physics 18, 1043–1047 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41567-022-01684-y