Observation of Half-Quantum Magnetic Flux in Sr2RuO4
Professor Maeno of Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan) and Assistant Professor Budakian of University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IllinoisCUSA) were the leaders of both teams, and details of the research were published in the scientific Journal Science on the same day*.
Strontium ruthenium oxide (SRO) is an unconventional superconductor that has been proposed as the solid-state analog of the A-phase of superfluid helium 3 in which half-quantum vortex was predicted theoretically more than 30 years ago. In this research, magnetic measurements at 0.4 K were made, at University of Illinois, on a specimen fabricated by drilling a hole of 500 nm diameter on the 2 ƒÊm square Sr2RuO4 crystal grown at Kyoto University and placed on a micro-fabricated Si cantilever device developed at University of Illinois. The observed half-quantum magnetic flux, according to the news-releases from both universities, verifies that SRO is a spin-triplet superconductor and that application to topological quantum computing and spintronics is expected.
Journal information
J. Jang, D. G. Ferguson, V. Vakaryuk, R. Budakian, S. B. Chung, P. M. Goldbart and M. Maeno, “Observation of Hahf-Height Magnetization Steps in Sr2RuO4”, Science Vol. 331 No. 6014 pp.186-188, Published 14 January 2011, DOI: 10.1126/science.1193839
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Materials Sciences
Materials management deals with the research, development, manufacturing and processing of raw and industrial materials. Key aspects here are biological and medical issues, which play an increasingly important role in this field.
innovations-report offers in-depth articles related to the development and application of materials and the structure and properties of new materials.
Newest articles
Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance to drive industrial-scale semiconductor work
Known for its ability to withstand extreme environments and high voltages, silicon carbide (SiC) is a semiconducting material made up of silicon and carbon atoms arranged into crystals that is…
New SPECT/CT technique shows impressive biomarker identification
…offers increased access for prostate cancer patients. A novel SPECT/CT acquisition method can accurately detect radiopharmaceutical biodistribution in a convenient manner for prostate cancer patients, opening the door for more…
How 3D printers can give robots a soft touch
Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult…
