A multi-university team of researchers has artificially
engineered a unique multilayer material that could lead to breakthroughs in
both superconductivity research and in real-world applications.
The researchers can tailor the material, which seamlessly
alternates between metal and oxide layers, to achieve extraordinary
superconducting properties — in particular, the ability to transport much more
electrical current than non-engineered materials.
The team includes experts from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Florida State University and the University of Michigan. Led
by Chang-Beom Eom, the Harvey D. Spangler Distinguished Professor of materials
science and engineering and physics at UW-Madison, the group described its
breakthrough March 3, 2013, in the advance online edition of the journal Nature
Materials.
“Artificially
engineered superlattices of pnictide superconductors”