The Possibility of Improved and Higher Tc Superconductors in Hybrid Systems

Abstract : This project is a study of engineering 2d heterostructures to mimic the structure of bulk high temperature cuprate superconductors. Since these consist of CuO2 planes separated by charge reservoir layers, we attempt to use pulsed-laser deposition to generate alternating Sr and CuO2 planes. We succeeded in creating structures of charge-neutral SrO and CuO layers, which exhibited a relatively high-Tc superconductive transition. Additionally, investigation of the structure of these films shows that they have a stabilized rock-salt structure similar to MnO, FeO, CoO and NiO structures (different from the usual CoO monoclinic structure) which may make it a candidate for doping experiments.