Superconductivity and Magnetism in Two-Dimensional and Layered Materials

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "2D and Carbon Nanomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 July 2024 | Viewed by 2028

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
Interests: superconductivity; 2D materials; electric transport measurements; scanning probe microscopy; thin films and nanotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Two-dimensional and layered materials are an emerging class of compounds that have attracted unprecedented attention from the scientific community in the last twenty years. Most of the research efforts have so far been devoted to the exploration of their unique electronic, optical, and optoelectronic properties, also in light of potential technological applications.

However, more exotic quantum phases have also been discovered in this class of materials, including superconductivity and various types of magnetic order. Given that several of these fascinating phenomena still elude a comprehensive understanding and that new two-dimensional and layered superconducting and/or magnetic compounds are continuously being discovered, the field is in need of novel experimental and theoretical investigations on a fundamental level. Additionally, a subset of these materials is close to attaining technological maturity, which will in turn pave the way for their usage in industry-grade applications with a foreseen impact in different fields ranging from energy storage, quantum computing and sensing, spintronics, and more.

This Special Issue therefore aims at providing a space for experimental, computational, and theoretical studies concerning the superconducting and/or magnetic properties of two-dimensional and layered materials, as well as their exploitation in devices and technological applications. Full articles, short communications, and review papers are welcome for submission.

Dr. Erik Piatti
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • two-dimensional materials
  • layered materials
  • superconductivity
  • magnetism
  • synthesis and fabrication
  • characterization techniques
  • theoretical modelling

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Optical Absorption in Tilted Geometries as an Indirect Measurement of Longitudinal Plasma Waves in Layered Cuprates
by Niccolò Sellati, Jacopo Fiore, Claudio Castellani and Lara Benfatto
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(12), 1021; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14121021 (registering DOI) - 13 Jun 2024
Abstract
Electromagnetic waves propagating in a layered superconductor with arbitrary momentum, with respect to the main crystallographic directions, exhibit an unavoidable mixing between longitudinal and transverse degrees of freedom. Here we show that this basic physical mechanism explains the emergence of a well-defined absorption [...] Read more.
Electromagnetic waves propagating in a layered superconductor with arbitrary momentum, with respect to the main crystallographic directions, exhibit an unavoidable mixing between longitudinal and transverse degrees of freedom. Here we show that this basic physical mechanism explains the emergence of a well-defined absorption peak in the in-plane optical conductivity when light propagates at small tilting angles relative to the stacking direction in layered cuprates. More specifically, we show that this peak, often interpreted as a spurious leakage of the c-axis Josephson plasmon, is instead a signature of the true longitudinal plasma mode occurring at larger momenta. By combining a classical approach based on Maxwell’s equations with a full quantum derivation of the plasma modes based on modeling the superconducting phase degrees of freedom, we provide an analytical expression for the absorption peak as a function of the tilting angle and light polarization. We suggest that an all-optical measurement in tilted geometry can be used as an alternative way to access plasma-wave dispersion, usually measured by means of large-momenta scattering techniques like resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) or electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Full article
20 pages, 1087 KiB  
Article
Pump-Driven Opto-Magnetic Properties in Semiconducting Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides: An Analytical Model
by Habib Rostami, Federico Cilento and Emmanuele Cappelluti
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(8), 707; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14080707 - 18 Apr 2024
Viewed by 600
Abstract
Single-layer transition-metal dichalcogenides provide an unique intrinsic entanglement between the spin/valley/orbital degrees of freedom and the polarization of scattered photons. This scenario gives rise to the well-assessed optical dichroism observed by using both steady and time-resolved probes. In this paper, we provide compact [...] Read more.
Single-layer transition-metal dichalcogenides provide an unique intrinsic entanglement between the spin/valley/orbital degrees of freedom and the polarization of scattered photons. This scenario gives rise to the well-assessed optical dichroism observed by using both steady and time-resolved probes. In this paper, we provide compact analytical modeling of the onset of a finite Faraday/Kerr optical rotation upon shining with circularly polarized light. We identify different optical features displaying optical rotation at different characteristic energies, and we describe in an analytical framework the time-dependence of their intensities as a consequence of the main spin-conserving and spin-flip processes. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 3393 KiB  
Article
Green-Light GaN p-n Junction Luminescent Particles Enhance the Superconducting Properties of B(P)SCCO Smart Meta-Superconductors (SMSCs)
by Qingyu Hai, Honggang Chen, Chao Sun, Duo Chen, Yao Qi, Miao Shi and Xiaopeng Zhao
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(23), 3029; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13233029 - 27 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 901
Abstract
Superconducting materials exhibit unique physical properties and have great scientific value and vast industrial application prospects. However, due to limitations, such as the critical temperature (TC) and critical current density (JC), the large-scale application of superconducting materials [...] Read more.
Superconducting materials exhibit unique physical properties and have great scientific value and vast industrial application prospects. However, due to limitations, such as the critical temperature (TC) and critical current density (JC), the large-scale application of superconducting materials remains challenging. Chemical doping has been a commonly used method to enhance the superconductivity of B(P)SCCO. However, satisfactory enhancement results have been difficult to achieve. In this study, we introduce green-light GaN p-n junction particles as inhomogeneous phases into B(P)SCCO polycrystalline particles to form a smart meta-superconductor (SMSC) structure. Based on the electroluminescence properties of the p-n junction, the Cooper pairs were stimulated and strengthened to enhance the superconductivity of B(P)SCCO. The experimental results demonstrate that the introduction of inhomogeneous phases can indeed enhance the critical temperature TC, critical current density JC, and complete diamagnetism (Meissner effect) of B(P)SCCO superconductors. Moreover, when the particle size of the raw material of B(P)SCCO is reduced from 30 to 5 μm, the grain size of the sintered samples also decreases, and the optimal doping concentration of the inhomogeneous phases increases from 0.15 wt.% to 0.2 wt.%, further improving the superconductivity. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop