The 1986 discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in copper-oxide compounds (cuprates) launched a revolution in materials exploration and heralded new technological promises for functional materials. In the subsequent decades, significant efforts spanning condensed matter physics, materials science, and inorganic chemistry have sought to understand the origins of superconductivity in these materials and to discover new systems with similarly high — or higher — critical temperatures. Nickel-oxides (nickelates) were proposed as potential analogues to the high-TC cuprates, but nickelate superconductivity was achieved only in 2019 after the development of new approaches in materials synthesis. In 2023, researchers unexpectedly discovered that a related family of nickelates exhibits superconductivity at even higher temperatures — now exceeding the technological benchmark of liquid nitrogen cooling. This finding has cemented the broader field of nickelate superconductivity at the forefront of materials research.
Yet despite rapid advances in the synthesis, characterization, and modeling of these compounds, many fundamental questions regarding the origin of high-TC nickelate superconductivity remain. In this webinar, we will present a brief history of the field and highlight key insights, breakthroughs, and lingering unknowns. In particular, we will illustrate the importance of nanoscale characterization and modeling in materials that are challenging to synthesize, and emphasize the close feedback required between theory, growth, and characterization. We will also discuss some prominent questions, including how the two families of nickelates are similar yet different, both to each other and to other unconventional superconductors such as the cuprates.
Attendee learning outcomes:

• Understand the key features of two superconducting families: the low valence square-planar and the higher valence Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates.
• Demonstrate the importance of close feedback between materials synthesis, characterization, and theory; highlight select technical advances in each.
• Identify important open questions and consider new useful techniques and models.

Who Should Attend:

• Materials scientists
• Condensed matter physicists
• Inorganic chemists

About the Physics Today Editor’s Choice Webinar Series:
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