研究者たちが、予想を覆す超伝導材料を調査(UW researchers probe superconducting materials that defy expectations)

2026-09-28 ワシントン大学(UW)

ワシントン大学(UW)の研究チームは、原子レベルの薄さを持つグラフェンを積層した材料で、通常の超伝導理論では説明しにくい「失敗した超伝導(failed superconductivity)」の存在を明確に示した。超伝導体では通常、冷却すると電気抵抗がゼロになるが、今回研究したグラフェン積層材料では、抵抗が完全にゼロにならず、小さな有限値で止まる現象が観測されていた。研究チームは、階段状に複数層のグラフェンを積み重ねたデバイスを作製し、印加する電圧を変化させることで、通常の超伝導状態とこの特異な状態を制御できることを確認した。これにより、従来の超伝導とは異なる「失敗した超伝導」が実在することを実験的に裏付けた。研究は、グラフェンなどの二次元材料に現れる未知の量子現象の理解につながるもので、将来的には新しい電子デバイスや量子技術への応用が期待される。

<関連情報>

菱面体グラフェンにおける異常な金属相および超伝導相 Anomalous metal and superconducting phases in rhombohedral graphene

Anna Okounkova, Abigail Sohm, Tobias Faehndrich, Manish Kumar, Derek Waleffe, Jiaqiang Yan, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Joshua Folk & Matthew Yankowitz
Nature  Published:23 September 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11033-1

研究者たちが、予想を覆す超伝導材料を調査(UW researchers probe superconducting materials that defy expectations)

Abstract

Two-dimensional superconductivity is now well established in graphene-based systems, with many such realizations showing evidence for unconventional pairing1,2,3,4,5,6. Yet, in several of the gate-tuned phases that otherwise exhibit clear signatures of superconductivity, the resistance does not vanish as temperature is lowered, instead saturating at a finite value2,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. Here we report a systematic study of this behaviour in rhombohedral graphene on a WSe2 substrate, finding regions of gate space with zero-resistance superconductivity alongside others with finite saturation resistance. At zero magnetic field, these regions appear as isolated pockets in gate space that otherwise exhibit very similar phenomenology, including abrupt transitions to the normal state as temperature, perpendicular magnetic field and current are raised above critical values. A small in-plane field expands and merges these pockets without qualitatively altering their behaviour, producing a sharp boundary at millikelvin base temperature between states of zero or finite resistance. The finite-resistance state reproduces key phenomenology associated with the anomalous metal, a state that has been observed in thin-film superconductors for decades but lacks an accepted theoretical explanation16,17. The tunability and reproducibility of ultra-clean rhombohedral graphene place strong constraints on extrinsic explanations and provide a new platform for understanding this behaviour.

1701物理及び化学
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