A new class of superconducting materials—lanthanum nickelates—has been shown to carry electricity without resistance at high temperatures, but only under extreme pressure, and researchers now aim to stabilise that behaviour in thin films at normal atmospheric pressure. Superconductors could dramatically cut energy losses in power grids, motors, and magnetic systems, but most must be cooled to extremely low temperatures to work. Only one family of materials, the copper-based cuprates, has so far achieved superconductivity above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen at ambient pressure. The nickelates are structurally similar to the cuprates, raising the possibility that a second high-temperature superconductor exists—but its superconducting state has only been seen under pressure, making it impractical and difficult to study. This project combines thin-film growth, advanced spectroscopy, electronic transport measurements, and computer modelling to identify the superconducting phase in lanthanum nickelates and stabilise it at ambient pressure. Success would provide a second platform for understanding how high-temperature superconductivity works—a fundamental science question that, if answered, could eventually guide the design of room-temperature superconductors. Even without immediate practical applications, the work will advance knowledge of correlated electron behaviour in oxide materials, a field that has previously yielded unexpected technologies such as magnetic sensors and next-generation memory devices.
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Developing more energy-efficient technologies is a key component of sustainable economic growth. Superconductors can make a key contribution to such technologies, however their ground state is typically only reached at very low temperatures. Only one group of materials, the cuprate high-temperature superconductors, so far exhibits superconductivity at temperatures above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen and at ambient pressure, which has made it challenging to develop a universal understanding of the pairing mechanism in these materials. Recently, superconductivity at similarly high temperatures has been reported in a second class of transition metal oxides, the lanthanum nickelates, albeit so far only under pressure. Discovery of a second class of transition metal oxides that exhibits high temperature superconductivity promises new opportunities to establish an understanding of the pairing mechanism in these materials and vastly better possibilities their properties in applications. The lanthanum nickelates are structurally very similar to the cuprates: they are both perovskite oxides, and superconductivity is observed in layered compounds of the Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) series – suggesting that similar physics might be at play. The primary objective of this research proposal is to systematically investigate the ground states of RP type phases derived from lanthanum nickelates in a quest to stabilise the superconductivity at ambient pressure as well as establish their correlated phases and understand their origin. To be able to harvest this potential high temperature superconductivity, but also improve our understanding of and ability to design correlated phases in transition metal oxides, we propose here an approach that combines thin film growth with characterisation by spectroscopies and electronic transport and ab-initio modelling to identify the key physics, enable identification of the superconducting phase, and unravel the mystery of high-temperature superconductivity in lanthanum nickelates. To achieve this objective, we will Use advanced spectroscopic methods to understand the electronic structure and correlated phases of single crystals of lanthanum nickelates Establish growth of electronic designer metamaterials, consisting of layered structures of different members of the Ruddlesden-Popper series of the lanthanum nickelates Employ a range of methods to identify the superconducting phase and stabilise it in thin films at ambient pressure
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