Dual ground-breaking research at Australian Institute for Innovative Materials

A research team at UOW’s Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) and the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials has recently made breakthrough research in both superconductors and a new class of spintronic* materials.

[*An electron has two important properties -- one is its negative electric charge and the other is commonly referred to as its spin. Conventional electronics and its devices use only the electron’s charge for information processing for example. When both spin and charge are used simultaneously, astonishing and unusual physical phenomena occur].

Superconductors can conduct electricity without energy loss which promises tremendous industrial applications.

After more than 20 years following the discovery of the first Copper oxide based high temperature superconductor which resulted in the awarding of the Nobel Prize in 1987, the mechanism of superconductivity is still a great mystery.

It is therefore extremely important to find if the high temperature superconductivity can exist in other type of compounds. A breakthrough discovery of an iron (Fe)-based superconductor was made by Japanese scientists last year.

According to ISEM’s Director, Professor Shixue Dou, determining whether or not this new superconductor can be useful in practical applications is an extremely important issue.

A research team ISEM has investigated this new superconductor under a very high magnetic field and they discovered that this superconductor can retain superconductivity in very high magnetic fields.

Their results were published in the prestigious journal, Advanced Materials.

Research team member Professor Xiaolin Wang said this was the first report in the world on a record high critical magnetic field for this new type of superconductor.

“Our work laid a foundation for its future application,” according to the journal paper’s co authors Professor Wang, Dr Shaban Reza Ghorbani, Dr Germanas Peleckis and Professor Dou.

Last year, a new class of materials was invented and published in Physical Review Letters by Professor Wang.

Professor Wang and his team have now conducted further studies on the new class of materials experimentally. They discovered a number of exotic physical properties of the new class of materials.

Latest developments to be showcased at International Workshop on Electronic Materials and Their Applications

Results indicated that this material may find applications as magnetic and electric sensors. A paper co-authored by Professor Wang, Dr Peleckis, Dr Hideo Kimura (NIMS, Japan), Professor Chao Zhang and Professor Dou was published online recently, again in the well-known scientific journal, Advanced Materials.

“What we have observed is only part of the fascinating properties of the new class of materials. We are expecting more interesting phenomenon and many potential applications in the fields of optics, mechtronics, and chemical sensors and renewable energy”, according to Professor Wang.

Professor Wang said the latest developments will be showcased at the upcoming International Workshop on Electronic Materials and Their Applications to be held at the AIIM Facility on UOW’s Innovation Campus over 19-20 March.

The researchers acknowledged the support they received via funding for both projects from the Australian Research Council through Discovery projects.