Guest_Jim_* Posted May 29, 2015 Posted May 29, 2015 Sometimes science can involve shooting something, but the process does not end there as one has to determine why whatever happened, happened. For decades it has been known that shooting ions at an iron-based superconductor can positively affect its properties, but the exact mechanics involved have been somewhat mysterious. That is until now, thanks to researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory and their spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscope (SI-STM). Superconductors are materials capable of carrying electrical currents without resistance, but require very low temperatures to do so. They can also require that the area be free of strong magnetic fields. This is the case with iron-based superconductors as the magnetic fields can cause the formation of vortices within the material, and these vortices inhibit the free flow of electrons. In the 1970's though, it was discovered that shooting high-energy ions at the superconductor can, sometimes, prevent these vortices from moving, and thus mitigate their impact. Now we know the reason is because the damage from the ions leaves either holes, just a few nanometers wide in the crystal structure, or elongated streaks, which trap the vortices. The hope is to take advantage of this damage and control the vortices, potentially allowing for control over currents at different temperatures or varying magnetic field strengths. To perform this study though required the SI-STM because only it was able to measure the damage the ions do to the structure at the atomic scale and how it impacts superconductivity, within the material, atom-by-atom. Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory Back to original news post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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