Electron microscopy at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pointing researchers closer to the development of ultra-thin materials that transfer electrons with no resistance at relatively high temperatures.

The study delivers direct evidence of high-temperature superconductivity at the interface of two insulating oxide materials. The paper by researchers from ORNL and the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy) is published in Physical Review Letters.

“One grand challenge in science is to manipulate materials locally by changing the distribution of atoms and the electronic structure, and that’s what we’re doing here,” Cantoni said. “This is a way to control the material -- by manipulating the oxygen to make this interface superconducting.”

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