The magnetoresistance effect in WTe2, a layered semimetal, is extremely large: the electrical resistance can be changed by more than 13 million per cent at very high magnetic fields and low temperatures. Apply a magnetic field to a magnetoresistive material and its electrical resistance changes — a technologically useful phenomenon that is harnessed, for example, in the data-reading sensors of hard drives. Mazhar Ali and colleagues have now identified a material (tungsten ditelluride or WTe2) in which the magnetoresistance effect is unusually large: the electrical resistance can be changed by more than 13 million per cent. Its remarkable magnetoresitance is evident at very high magnetic fields and at extremely low temperatures, so practical applications are not yet in prospect. But this finding suggests new directions in the study of magnetoresistivity that could ultimately lead to new uses of this effect. Magnetoresistance is the change in a material’s electrical resistance in response to an applied magnetic field. Materials with large magnetoresistance have found use as magnetic sensors1, in magnetic memory2, and in hard drives3 at room temperature, and their rarity has motivated many fundamental studies in materials physics at low temperatures4. Here we report the observation of an extremely large positive magnetoresistance at low temperatures in the non-magnetic layered transition-metal dichalcogenide WTe2: 452,700 per cent at 4.5 kelvins in a magnetic field of 14.7 teslas, and 13 million per cent at 0.53 kelvins in a magnetic field of 60 teslas. In contrast with other materials, there is no saturation of the magnetoresistance value even at very high applied fields. Determination of the origin and consequences of this effect, and the fabrication of thin films, nanostructures and devices based on the extremely large positive magnetoresistance of WTe2, will represent a significant new direction in the study of magnetoresistivity.

Large, non-saturating magnetoresistance in WTe2.

http://myweb.rz.uni-augsburg.de/~eckern/WEH-287/ABSTRACTS/ruitenbeek.pdf

Quantum properties of atomic-sized conductors

Researchers develop a fiber-coupled single-photon-detection system using amorphous tungsten silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. The system detection efficiency is higher than 90% in the wavelength range between 1520 nm and 1610 nm. The device dark-count rate, timing jitter and reset time are 1 cps, 150 ps and 40 ns, respectively.

Detecting single infrared photons with 93% system efficiency

Creating functional electrical circuits using individual or ensemble molecules, often termed as “molecular-scale electronics”, not only meets the increasing technical demands of the miniaturization of traditional Si-based electronic devices, but also provides an ideal window of exploring the intrinsic properties of materials at the molecular level. This Review covers the major advances with the most general applicability and emphasizes new insights into the development of efficient platform methodologies for building reliable molecular electronic devices with desired functionalities through the combination of programmed bottom-up self-assembly and sophisticated top-down device fabrication. First, we summarize a number of different approaches of forming molecular-scale junctions and discuss various experimental techniques for examining these nanoscale circuits in details. We then give a full introduction of characterization techniques and theoretical simulations for molecular electronics. Third, we highlig...

Molecular-Scale Electronics: From Concept to Function

Magnetic flux can penetrate a type-II superconductor in the form of Abrikosov vortices (also called flux lines, flux tubes, or fluxons) each carrying a quantum of magnetic flux phi 0=h/2e. These tiny vortices of supercurrent tend to arrange themselves in a triangular flux-line lattice (FLL), which is more or less perturbed by material inhomogeneities that pin the flux lines, and in high-Tc superconductors (HTSCs) also by thermal fluctuations. Many properties of the FLL are well described by the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory or by the electromagnetic London theory, which treats the vortex core as a singularity. In Nb alloys and HTSCs the FLL is very soft mainly because of the large magnetic penetration depth lambda . The shear modulus of the FLL is c66~1/ lambda 2, and the tilt modulus c44(k)~(1+k2 lambda 2)-1 is dispersive and becomes very small for short distortion wavelengths 2 pi /k<< lambda . This softness is enhanced further by the pronounced anisotropy and layered structure of HTSCs, which strongly increases the penetration depth for currents along the c axis of these (nearly uniaxial) crystals and may even cause a decoupling of two-dimensional vortex lattices in the Cu-O layers. Thermal fluctuations and softening may `melt` the FLL and cause thermally activated depinning of the flux lines or ofthe two-dimensional `pancake vortices` in the layers. Various phase transitions are predicted for the FLL in layered HTSCs. Although large pinning forces and high critical currents have been achieved, the small depinning energy so far prevents the application of HTSCs as conductors at high temperatures except in cases when the applied current and the surrounding magnetic field are small.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/58/11/003/pdf

The flux-line lattice in superconductors

Experimental techniques for low-temperature measurements

Strain scaling law for flux pinning in practical superconductors. Part 1: Basic relationship and application to Nb3Sn conductors

Measurements of the transport critical‐current density (Jc), magnetization Jc, and magnetoresistance in a number of bulk sintered samples of Y1Ba2Cu3Ox from several different laboratories indicate that the transport Jc is limited by weak‐link regions between high Jc regions. The weak‐link Jc has a Josephson character, decreasing by two orders of magnitude as the magnetic field is increased from 0.1 to 10 mT at 77 K. An examination of the grain‐boundary region in Y1Ba2Cu3Ox shows no observable impurities or second phases to the scale of the [001] lattice planes (∼12 A). The effect of intrinsic conduction anisotropy is discussed. A current‐transfer model is proposed in which weak conduction along the c axis plays a role in limiting Jc at grain boundaries. Orienting the grains in the powder state during processing may result in enhanced transport Jc in bulk conductors.

Evidence for weak link and anisotropy limitations on the transport critical current in bulk polycrystalline Y1Ba2Cu3Ox

An Nb‐Sn filament mounted on a flexible glass beam can be broken to form an electron tunneling junction between the fracture elements. Breaking the filament in liquid helium prevents oxidation of the freshly exposed fracture surfaces. A sharp superconducting energy gap in the I‐V characteristics measured at 4 K indicates the formation of a high‐quality tunneling barrier between the fracture elements. The resistance of the junction can be continuously adjusted by varying the surface bending strain of the beam. An estimated 0.1 nm change in the barrier thickness produces about an order of magnitude change in the resistance over the range from 105 to 108 Ω. The exponential character of this dependence shows that the tunnel junction is freely adjustable without intimate contact of the junction elements. ‘‘Break’’ junctions made in this way offer a new class of tunneling experiments on freshly exposed surfaces of a fractured sample without the oxide barrier previously required for junction stability. Such expe...

Electron tunneling experiments using Nb‐Sn ‘‘break’’ junctions

We calculate the transport critical-current density in a granular superconductor in magnetic fields below about 5 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ T The field dependence in this region is assumed to be controlled by intragranular or intergranular Josephson junctions Various model calculations are fitted to transport critical-current data on bulk ${\mathrm{Y}}_{1}{\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\delta}}$ ceramic superconductors, whose average grain size somewhat exceeds 10 \ensuremath{\mu}m The results yield an average junction cross-sectional area (thickness x length) of 4-6 \ensuremath{\mu}${\mathrm{m}}^{2}$ If the junctions are at the grain boundaries, a London penetration depth of about 150-300 nm is inferred, consistent with other estimates We conclude that Josephson junctions are limiting the transport critical current in these samples and that they lie at the grain boundaries The parameters of the fit are not consistent with Josephson junctions at twinning boundaries

/pdf/josephson-junction-model-of-critical-current-in-granular-y-1-rnthh3r1ko.pdf

John (Jack) W. Ekin

Papers

Experimental techniques for low-temperature measurements

Strain scaling law for flux pinning in practical superconductors. Part 1: Basic relationship and application to Nb3Sn conductors

Evidence for weak link and anisotropy limitations on the transport critical current in bulk polycrystalline Y1Ba2Cu3Ox

Electron tunneling experiments using Nb‐Sn ‘‘break’’ junctions

Josephson-junction model of critical current in granular Y 1 Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ superconductors