Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered a state of magnetism that may be the missing link to understanding the relationship between magnetism and unconventional superconductivity. The research, recently published in npj Nature Quantum Materials, provides tantalizing new possibilities for attaining superconducting states in iron-based materials.
“In the research of quantum materials, it’s long been theorized that there are three types of magnetism associated with superconductivity. One type is very commonly found, another type is very limited and only found in rare situations, and this third type was unknown, until our discovery,” said Paul Canfield, a senior scientist at Ames Laboratory and a Distinguished Professor and the Robert Allen Wright Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University.
The research is further discussed in the paper, “Hedgehog spin-vortex crystal stabilized in a hole-doped iron-based superconductor,” authored by William R. Meier, Qing-Ping Ding, Andreas Kreyssig, Sergey L. Bud’ko, Aashish Sapkota, Karunakar Kothapalli, Vladislav Borisov, Roser Valentí, Cristian D. Batista, Peter P. Orth, Rafael M. Fernandes, Alan I. Goldman, Yuji Furukawa, Anna E. Böhmer, and Paul C. Canfield; and published in the journal npj Nature Quantum Materials.