Possible strain-induced enhancement of the superconducting onset transition temperature in infinite-layer nickelates
Abstract
The mechanism of unconventional superconductivity in correlated materials remains a great challenge in condensed matter physics. The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates, as an analog to high-Tc cuprates, has opened a new route to tackle this challenge. By growing 8 nm Pr0.8Sr0.2NiO2 films on the (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 substrate, we successfully raise the superconducting onset transition temperature Tc in the widely studied SrTiO3-substrated nickelates from 9 K into 15 K, which indicates compressive strain is an efficient protocol to further enhance superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates. Additionally, the x-ray absorption spectroscopy, combined with the first-principles and many-body simulations, suggest a crucial role of the hybridization between Ni and O orbitals in the unconventional pairing. These results also suggest the increase of Tc be driven by the change of charge-transfer nature that would narrow the origin of general unconventional superconductivity in correlated materials to the covalence of transition metals and ligands.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 27, 2023
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s42005-023-01464-x
Entities
People
- Fanny Rodolakis
- Hai-Lan Luo
- Jessica L McChesney
- Jiangping Hu
- Jiarui Li
- Jordyn Hales
- Joshua J. Sanchez
- Qiang Gao
- Riccardo Comin
- Tao Xiang
- Wei-chih Chen
- Xiaolin Ren
- Xingjiang Zhou
- Yao Wang
- Zhihai Zhu
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Division of Materials Research