Imaging the Meissner effect in hydride superconductors using quantum sensors

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bhattacharyya, P.; Chen, W.; Huang, X.; Chatterjee, S.; Huang, B.; Kobrin, B.; Lyu, Y.; Smart, T. J.; Block, M.; Wang, E.; Wang, Z.; Wu, W.; Hsieh, S.; Ma, H.; Mandyam, S.; Chen, B.; Davis, E.; Geballe, Z. M.; Zu, C.; Struzhkin, V.; Jeanloz, R.; Moore, J. E.; Cui, T.; Galli, G.; Halperin, B. I.; Laumann, C. R.; Yao, N. Y.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Jilin University; Carnegie Mellon University; University of Chicago; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Harvard University; Harvard University; Carnegie Institution for Science; Washington University (WUSTL); Ningbo University; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Argonne National Laboratory; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Argonne National Laboratory; University of Chicago; Boston University
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-5285
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07026-7
• 发表日期: 2024-03-07
• 页码: 73-+
• 关键词: high-pressures; hydrogen; spin

摘要

By directly altering microscopic interactions, pressure provides a powerful tuning knob for the exploration of condensed phases and geophysical phenomena(1). The megabar regime represents an interesting frontier, in which recent discoveries include high-temperature superconductors, as well as structural and valence phase transitions(2-6). However, at such high pressures, many conventional measurement techniques fail. Here we demonstrate the ability to perform local magnetometry inside a diamond anvil cell with sub-micron spatial resolution at megabar pressures. Our approach uses a shallow layer of nitrogen-vacancy colour centres implanted directly within the anvil(7-9); crucially, we choose a crystal cut compatible with the intrinsic symmetries of the nitrogen-vacancy centre to enable functionality at megabar pressures. We apply our technique to characterize a recently discovered hydride superconductor, CeH9 (ref.(10)). By performing simultaneous magnetometry and electrical transport measurements, we observe the dual signatures of superconductivity: diamagnetism characteristic of the Meissner effect and a sharp drop of the resistance to near zero. By locally mapping both the diamagnetic response and flux trapping, we directly image the geometry of superconducting regions, showing marked inhomogeneities at the micron scale. Our work brings quantum sensing to the megabar frontier and enables the closed-loop optimization of superhydride materials synthesis.