Phys.org August 15, 2024
Copper oxide materials can be made superconducting by doping the parent compound with either electrons or holes. Hole-doped cuprates typically have higher transition temperatures and have been studied more extensively. An international team of researchers (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Yale University, UC Berkeley, Sweden) observed an unusual energy gap in electron-doped cuprate Nd2-xCexCuO4 high above the temperature of the superconducting transition. After considering all the known ordering tendencies in tandem with the phase diagram, they hypothesized that the normal-state gap in the underdoped n-type cuprates originated from Cooper pairing. According to the researchers the high temperature scale of the normal-state gap raises the prospect of engineering higher transition temperatures in the n-type cuprates comparable to those of the p-type cuprates… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
This is a graphic drawing that represents how electrons lock together in a superconducting material. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory