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Results for “Room-temperature superconductivity”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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86 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Nanoengineering room temperature ferroelectricity into orthorhombic SmMnO 3 films

Orthorhombic R MnO 3 ( R = rare-earth cation) compounds are type-II multiferroics induced by inversion-symmetry-breaking of spin order. They hold promise for magneto-electric devices. However, no spontaneous room-temperature ferroic property has been observed to date in orthorhombic R MnO 3 . Here, using 3D straining in nanocomposite films of (SmMnO 3 ) 0.5 ((Bi,Sm) 2 O 3 ) 0.5 , we demonstrate room temperature ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism with T C,FM ~ 90 K, matching exactly with theoretical predictions for the induced strain levels. Large in-plane compressive and out-of-plane tensile strains (-3.6% and +4.9%, respectively) were induced by the stiff (Bi,Sm) 2 O 3 nanopillars embedded. The room temperature electric polarization is comparable to other spin-driven ferroelectric R MnO 3 films. Also, while bulk SmMnO 3 is antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetism was induced in the composite films. The Mn-O bond angles and lengths determined from density functional theory explain the origin of the ferroelectricity, i.e. modification of the exchange coupling. Our structural tuning method gives a route to designing multiferroics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantitative assessment of the universal thermopower in the Hubbard model

As primarily an electronic observable, the room-temperature thermopower S in cuprates provides possibilities for a quantitative assessment of the Hubbard model. Using determinant quantum Monte Carlo, we demonstrate agreement between Hubbard model calculations and experimentally measured room-temperature S across multiple cuprate families, both qualitatively in terms of the doping dependence and quantitatively in terms of magnitude. We observe an upturn in S with decreasing temperatures, which possesses a slope comparable to that observed experimentally in cuprates. From our calculations, the doping at which S changes sign occurs in close proximity to a vanishing temperature dependence of the chemical potential at fixed density. Our results emphasize the importance of interaction effects in the systematic assessment of the thermopower S in cuprates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

The role of iron in magnetic damping of Mg(Al,Fe) 2 O 4 spinel ferrite thin films

© 2020 Author(s). We have investigated magnesium aluminum ferrite thin films with a range of iron concentrations and identified the optimal iron content to obtain high crystalline quality thin films with the low magnetic damping required for spin current-based applications. Epitaxial MgAl 2-x FexO4 films with 0.8 < x < 2.0 were grown by pulsed laser deposition on single crystal MgAl2O4 substrates and were characterized structurally and magnetically. We find that the x = 1.5 composition minimizes the room-temperature magnetic damping with a typical Gilbert damping parameter of α eff = 1.8 × 10-3. This minimized damping is governed by a competition between the more robust magnetic ordering with increased iron content, x, and the more defective structure due to larger film-substrate lattice mismatch with increased iron content. The temperature-dependent magnetization curves indicate that Tc is suppressed below room temperature for iron content x ≤ 1.2 and eventually suppressed entirely for x = 0.8. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism results indicate that for all x the magnetic moment is dominated by Fe 3 + cations distributed in a 60:40 ratio on the octahedral and tetrahedral sites, with minimal contribution from Fe 2 + cations. Films with x = 1.4-1.6 exhibit very strong ferromagnetic resonance and low Gilbert damping with α eff = (1.8-6) × 10-3, making them ideal candidates for microwave and spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Two-level systems in nucleated and non-nucleated epitaxial alpha-tantalum films

Building usefully coherent superconducting quantum processors depends on reducing losses in their constituent materials. Tantalum, like niobium, has proven utility as the primary superconducting layer within highly coherent qubits. However, unlike Nb, high temperatures are typically used to stabilize the desirable body-centered-cubic phase, α-Ta, during thin film deposition. It has long been known that a thin Nb layer permits the room-temperature nucleation of α-Ta, but here we observe the epitaxial process and present few-photon microwave loss measurements in Nb-nucleated Ta films. We compare resonators patterned from Ta films grown at high temperature (500 °C) and films nucleated at room temperature, in order to understand the impact of the crystalline order on quantum coherence. In both cases, films grew with Al 2 O 3 (001) ∥ Ta (110), indicating that the epitaxial orientation is independent of temperature and is preserved across the Nb/Ta interface. We use conventional low-power spectroscopy to measure two level system (TLS) loss as well as an electric-field bias technique to measure the effective dipole moments of TLS in the surfaces of resonators. In our measurements, Nb-nucleated Ta resonators had greater loss tangent (1.5 ± 0.1 × 10 -5 ) than non-nucleated (5 ± 1× 10 -6 ) in approximate proportion to defect densities as characterized by x-ray diffraction (0.27° vs 0.18° [110] reflection width) and electron microscopy (30 vs 70 nm domain size). Furthermore, the dependence of the loss tangent on domain size indicates that the development of more ordered Ta films is likely to lead to improvements in qubit coherence times. Moreover, low-temperature α-Ta epitaxy may enable the growth of microstate-free heterostructures, which would not withstand high temperature processing.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Novel synthesis approach for “stubborn” metals and metal oxides

Significance Atomically precise complex oxides containing “stubborn” elements, such as ruthenium, iridium, and platinum, hold tremendous promise as designer quantum materials for exploring novel electronic, magnetic, superconducting, and topological phases owing to their strong spin–orbit interaction. This study shows a method to synthesize such materials by eliminating the major synthesis bottleneck of low vapor pressure and difficulty in oxidation. This study serves as a “proof-of-concept” allowing us to 1) grow Pt, RuO 2 , and SrRuO 3 thin films by supplying Pt and Ru precursors at 65 to 100 °C in a low-temperature effusion cell, as opposed to the several thousand degrees Celsius needed using electron beam evaporators; 2) reveal bulk-like room-temperature resistivity; and 3) ultimately provide pathways to creating atomically precise quantum structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Experimental thermal equation of state of B 2–KCl

The alkali halides are often used as optically-transparent pressure-transmitting media and thermal insulators in laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments. High P-T equations of state for these materials would allow them to be used simultaneously as sensitive in situ pressure markers, making sample preparation and data analysis simpler. KCl is especially useful for this application because its high melting point, crystallographic simplicity, and low electron density are ideal for use in high-temperature X-ray diffraction experiments. However, the high-temperature static equation of state data for this material is limited in pressure to 8 GPa. As experiments routinely exceed 100 GPa in pressure and thousands of Kelvin, it is necessary for the equation of state of KCl to be determined experimentally at these conditions if it is to be used as an equation of state calibrant in the future. This work combines new high-pressure, high-temperature data of the B2 phase of KCl (up to 167 GPa and 2400 K) with the previously published room-temperature data of Dewaele et al. (2012) to produce a Mie-Gruneisen-Debye thermal equation of state for this material. The room temperature equation of state parameters are similar to those reported previously: V 0 = 32.0(3) cm 3 /mole, K 0 = 24(1) GPa and $K$$^{'}_{0}$ = 4.56(5). The thermal parameters, 0 and q, are 2.9(4) and 1.0(1), respectively. While a q of 1 is expected, the 0 is higher than expected from previous calculations, lower pressure experimental data, and the available shockwave data. Here, previously-reported equations of state underestimate the pressure of KCl at high temperatures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Refined room-temperature equation of state of Bi up to 260 GPa

At room temperature, bismuth undergoes several structural transitions with increasing pressure before taking on a body-centered cubic (bcc) phase at approximately 8 GPa. The bcc structure is stable to the highest measured pressure and its simplicity, along with its high compressibility and atomic number, makes it an enticing choice as a pressure calibrant. Here, we present three data sets on the compression of bismuth in a diamond anvil cell in a neon pressure medium, up to a maximum pressure of about 260 GPa. The use of a soft pressure medium reduces deviatoric stress when compared to previous work. With an expanded pressure range, a higher point density, and a decreased uniaxial stress component, we are able to provide more reliable equation of state parameters. We also conduct density functional theory electronic-structure calculations that confirm that the bcc phase is energetically favored at high pressure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

First-order structural phase transition at low temperature in GaPt 5 P and its rapid enhancement with pressure

Single crystals of X Pt 5 ⁢P (X = Al, Ga, and In), belonging to the 1-5-1 family of compounds, were grown from a Pt-P solution at high temperatures, and measurements of the ambient pressure, temperature-dependent magnetization, resistivity, and x-ray diffraction were made. Additionally, the ambient-pressure Hall resistivity and temperature-dependent resistance under pressure were measured on GaPt 5 ⁢P. All three compounds have a tetragonal P4/mmm crystal structure at room temperature with metallic transport and weak diamagnetism over the 2–300 K temperature range. Surprisingly, at ambient pressure, both the transport and magnetization measurements on GaPt 5 ⁢P show a steplike feature in the 70–90 K region, suggesting a possible structural phase transition. Neither AlPt 5 ⁢P nor InPt 5 ⁢P have any signatures of a phase transition in their temperature-dependent electrical resistance and magnetization data. Both the hysteretic nature and sharpness of the features in the GaPt 5 ⁢P data suggest that the transition is first-order. Further, single-crystal x-ray diffraction measurements provided further details of the structural transition with a possibility of a crystal symmetry different from P⁢4/mmm below the transition temperature. The transition is characterized by anisotropic changes in the lattice parameters and a volume collapse with respect to the high-temperature tetragonal crystal structure. Furthermore, satellite peaks are observed at two distinct and nonequivalent wave vectors (0, 0, 0.5) and (0.5, 0.5, 0.5), and density functional theory calculations present phonon softening, especially at (0.5, 0.5, 0.5), as a possible driving mechanism. Additionally, we find that the structural transition temperature increases rapidly with increasing pressure, reaching room temperature by ~2.2 GPa, highlighting the high degree of pressure sensitivity of GaPt 5 ⁢P and fragile nature of its room-temperature structure. Even though the volume collapse and extreme pressure sensitivity suggest chemical pressure should drive a similar structural change in AlPt 5⁢ P, where both unit-cell dimensions and volume are smaller, its structure is found to be the same as that of the room-temperature GaPt 5 ⁢P. Overall, GaPt 5 ⁢P stands out as a sole member of the 1-5-1 family of compounds for which a temperature-driven structural change has been observed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effect of low-temperature compression on superconductivity and crystal structure in strontium metal

The superconducting and structural properties of elemental strontium metal were investigated under pressures up to 60 GPa while maintaining cryogenic conditions during pressure application. Applying pressure at low temperatures reveals differences in superconducting and structural phases compared to previous reports obtained at room temperatures. Notably, the superconducting critical temperature exhibits a twofold increase under compression after cryogenic cooling within the pressure range of 35–42 GPa, compared to cryogenic cooling after room-temperature compression. Subsequently, the transition width becomes significantly sharper above 42 GPa. Low-temperature x-ray diffraction measurements under pressure reveal that this change corresponds to the Sr-III to Sr-IV transition, with no evidence of any metastable structure. Furthermore, the monoclinic Sr-IV structure was observed to remain stable to much higher pressures—at least up to 60 GPa, without the appearance of the incommensurate Sr-V phase present at room temperature. As a result, this implies that thermal activation energy plays an important role in overcoming the presence of a kinetic barrier to the Sr-V phase at room temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Giant Doping Response of Magnetic Anisotropy in MnTe

Developing simple ways to control spin states in spintronic devices is a crucial step towards increasing their functionality. MnTe is a room-temperature antiferromagnet with promising spintronic properties, including for thermospintronics and magnon-based devices. Here, we show that, in MnTe, less than 1% Li is sufficient to produce a dramatic spin reorientation as observed by neutron diffraction. The behavior of the 0001 magnetic Bragg peak reveals a significant reorientation of the Mn spins from planar in the pure material to almost completely axial with minimal Li doping. Temperature dependence of the magnetic peaks in Li-doped samples indicates that axial spins shift back to planar suddenly upon approaching the Néel temperature (T N = 307 K). Density functional theory calculations support the idea that a shift in the Fermi level caused by doping is responsible for switching the material between two competing magnetic ground states. These results pave the way for developing easy switching of magnetic states in functional materials such as spintronic devices and topological insulators.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Competing magnetic phases in Cr 3+𝛿 ⁢Te 4 are spatially segregated

Cr 1+𝑥⁢ Te 2 is a self-intercalated van der Waals system that is of current interest for its room-temperature room-temperature ferromagnetic (FM) phases and tunable topological properties. In bulk samples, the strain from the interstitial Cr ions leads to distinct structural phases for different ranges of 𝑥. Early neutron powder diffraction (NPD) measurements on the monoclinic phase Cr 3 ⁢Te 4 (𝑥=0.5) presented evidence for competing FM and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phases. Here we apply neutron diffraction to a single crystal of Cr 3+𝛿 ⁢Te 4 with 𝛿=−0.10 and discover that it consists of two distinct monoclinic phases, one with FM order below 𝑇 C ≈321 K and another that develops AFM order below 𝑇 N ≈86 K. In contrast, we find that a crystal with 𝛿=−0.26 exhibits only FM order below 𝑇 C ≈285 K. The single-crystal analysis is complemented by results obtained with NPD, x-ray powder diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements on the 𝛿=−0.10 composition. From observations of spontaneous magnetostriction of opposite sign at 𝑇 C and 𝑇 N , along with the TEM evidence for both monoclinic phases in a single thin ( ≈100 nm) grain, we conclude that the two phases must have a fine-grained ( ≲100 nm) intergrowth character, as might occur from high-temperature spinodal decomposition during the growth process. Calculations of the relaxed lattice structures for the FM and AFM phases with density functional theory provide a rationalization of the observed spontaneous magnetostrictions. Correlations between the magnitude and orientation of the magnetic moments with lattice parameter variation demonstrate that the magnetic orders are sensitive to strain, thus explaining why magnetic ordering temperatures and anisotropies can be different between bulk and thin-film samples, when the latter are subject to epitaxial strain. Our results point to the need to investigate the supposed coexistence FM and AFM phases reported elsewhere in the Cr 1+𝑥 ⁢Te 2 system, such as in the Cr 5 ⁢Te 8 phase (𝑥=0.25).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Room-temperature skyrmion lattice in a layered magnet (Fe 0.5 Co 0.5 ) 5 GeTe 2

Novel magnetic ground states have been stabilized in two-dimensional (2D) magnets such as skyrmions, with the potential next-generation information technology. Here, we report the experimental observation of a Néel-type skyrmion lattice at room temperature in a single-phase, layered 2D magnet, specifically a 50% Co-doped Fe 5 GeTe 2 (FCGT) system. The thickness-dependent magnetic domain size follows Kittel's law. The static spin textures and spin dynamics in FCGT nanoflakes were studied by Lorentz electron microscopy, variable-temperature magnetic force microscopy, micromagnetic simulations, and magnetotransport measurements. Current-induced skyrmion lattice motion was observed at room temperature, with a threshold current density, j th = 1 × 10 6 A/cm 2 . This discovery of a skyrmion lattice at room temperature in a noncentrosymmetric material opens the way for layered device applications and provides an ideal platform for studies of topological and quantum effects in 2D.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Renewal: Coherent control of spin states in organic electronics – discovery and investigation of complex room-temperature magnetic quantum excitations

In the course of four funding cycles of this project, its research focused on the exploration and understanding of spin-dependent electronic processes in organic semiconductors. It aimed to investigate the potential of harnessing the spin degree of freedom in organic materials for various applications such as spin electronics, quantum information, sensors, and as well as quantum coherent spin phenomena of charge carrier states in organic semiconductors, with the aim to develop room-temperature-based quantum applications. Specifically, the project aimed to: Apply new diagnostic tools, i.e. spin spectroscopy techniques, for paramagnetic charge carrier states in organic semiconductors, based on coherent control with pulsed electron spin resonance to understand spin relaxation and spin mixing mechanisms in organic semiconductor materials and devices such as OLEDs. Explore the nature of charge carrier spin-coupling and pathways for its manipulation to control the physical behaviors of these materials. This involves investigating spin interactions through materials structure, composition, morphological dependencies, isotopic effects, and externally applied electric and magnetic fields, with the goal to manipulate electrical and optical material properties by adjusting spin-orbit, spin-dipolar, spin-exchange, as well as spin-hyperfine interactions to open up this materials class for new applications. Study spin-dependent charge carrier transport and recombination and how these observables are governed by spin-propagation, especially coherent spin propagation as well as collective spin-effects such as the spin-Dicke effect and resonant multi-photon magnetic dipole transitions. The project utilized pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance (pEDMR) and pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance (pODMR) techniques over a wide frequency range. These techniques enabled the observation and quantification of various spin-spin coupling types, including spin-exchange, spin-dipolar, hyperfine, and spin-orbit interactions. The project will leverage low- to mid-frequency pEDMR/pODMR facilities and collaboration with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗