from the leads-an-orchestra-with-two-batons dept.
Researchers identify new type of superconductor:
Until now, the history of superconducting materials has been a tale of two types: s-wave and d-wave.
Now, Cornell researchers—led by Brad Ramshaw, the Dick & Dale Reis Johnson Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences—have discovered a possible third type: g-wave.
[...] Physicists have theorized the existence of a third type of superconductor between these two so-called "singlet" states: a p-wave superconductor, with one quanta of angular momentum and the electrons pairing with parallel rather than antiparallel spins. This spin-triplet superconductor would be a major breakthrough for quantum computing because it can be used to create Majorana fermions, a unique particle which is its own antiparticle.
For more than 20 years, one of the leading candidates for a p-wave superconductor has been strontium ruthenate (Sr2RuO4), although recent research has started to poke holes in the idea.
Ramshaw and his team set out to determine once and for all whether strontium ruthenate is a highly desired p-wave superconductor. Using high-resolution resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, they discovered that the material is potentially an entirely new kind of superconductor altogether: g-wave.
"This experiment really shows the possibility of this new type of superconductor that we had never thought about before," Ramshaw said. "It really opens up the space of possibilities for what a superconductor can be and how it can manifest itself.
[...] Based on the data, they determined that strontium ruthenate is what's called a two-component superconductor, meaning the way electrons bind together is so complex, it can't be described by a single number; it needs a direction as well.
[...] By determining that the material was two-component, Ramshaw's team not only confirmed those findings, but also showed strontium ruthenate wasn't a conventional s- or d-wave superconductor, either.
[...] Now the researchers can use the technique to examine other materials to find out if they are potential p-wave candidates.
Journal Reference:
Sayak Ghosh, Arkady Shekhter, F. Jerzembeck, et al. Thermodynamic evidence for a two-component superconducting order parameter in Sr 2 RuO 4, Nature Physics (DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1032-4)
Previously:
The Case of the Elusive Majorana: The So-Called 'Angel Particle' is Still a Mystery
Related Stories
A 2017 report of the discovery of a particular kind of Majorana fermion—the chiral Majorana fermion, referred to as the “angel particle”—is likely a false alarm, according to new research. Majorana fermions are enigmatic particles that act as their own antiparticle and were first hypothesized to exist in 1937. They are of immense interest to physicists because their unique properties could allow them to be used in the construction of a topological quantum computer.
A team of physicists at Penn State and the University of Wurzburg in Germany led by Cui-Zu Chang, an assistant professor of physics at Penn State studied over three dozen devices similar to the one used to produce the angel particle in the 2017 report. They found that the feature that was claimed to be the manifestation of the angel particle was unlikely to be induced by the existence of the angel particle. A paper describing the research appears on January 3, 2020 in the journal Science.
“When the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana predicted the possibility of a new fundamental particle which is its own antiparticle, little could he have envisioned the long-lasting implications of his imaginative idea,” said Nitin Samarth, Downsbrough Department Head and professor of physics at Penn State. “Over 80 years after Majorana’s prediction, physicists continue to actively search for signatures of the still elusive “Majorana fermion” in diverse corners of the universe.”
Journal Reference:
Morteza Kayyalha, Di Xiao, Ruoxi Zhang, Jaeho Shin, Jue Jiang, Fei Wang, Yi-Fan Zhao, Run Xiao, Ling Zhang, Kajetan M. Fijalkowski, Pankaj Mandal, Martin Winnerlein, Charles Gould, Qi Li, Laurens W. Molenkamp, Moses H. W. Chan, Nitin Samarth, Cui-Zu Chang. Absence of evidence for chiral Majorana modes in quantum anomalous Hall-superconductor devices. Science, 2020; 367 (6473): 64 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6361
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:19PM (1 child)
And around the world female physicists cheered "it's about time"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @01:27AM
> spacetime
FTFY
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:31PM
FFS how many genders of superconductor are there?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @07:59PM
The holy grail of superconductors
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @03:26AM
How much energy do you need to put in to get an electron there? We're just building elements that nay start filling the g-shell, and they aren't stable.