Scientists in Japan have made a 'superconducting sandwich' from two materials are not superconductors in isolation. The technique could be used to make electronic circuits with extremely low power consumption, the researchers suggest.
A team led by Masashi Kawasaki of Tohoku University fabricated a transistor by depositing electrodes on a surface of potassium tantalum oxide (KTaO3). This was then covered with a drop of an ionic liquid consisting of diethylmaleic acid ester (DEME) cations and boron tetrafluoride anions. It has been shown in the past that when a drop of an ionic liquid is placed on KTaO3, a double layer forms at the interface with a gap of around 2nm. When a voltage is applied across this gap, charge accumulates electrostatically on either side, making the component analogous to a capacitor.
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