Science

Less than one nanometer wide - the world's smallest superconductor

Less than one nanometer wide - the world's smallest superconductor
The smallest superconductor, measuring just .87 nanometer wide. (Image: Saw-Wai Hla and Kendal Clark, Ohio University)
The smallest superconductor, measuring just .87 nanometer wide. (Image: Saw-Wai Hla and Kendal Clark, Ohio University)
View 1 Image
The smallest superconductor, measuring just .87 nanometer wide. (Image: Saw-Wai Hla and Kendal Clark, Ohio University)
1/1
The smallest superconductor, measuring just .87 nanometer wide. (Image: Saw-Wai Hla and Kendal Clark, Ohio University)

The world of superconductors just became a much “smaller” place. Scientists taking part in an Ohio University led study have discovered the world’s smallest superconductor – a sheet of four pairs of molecules measuring less than one nanometer (that's 0.000001 millimeter) wide, potentially paving the way for next – generation nanoscale electronics.

The findings, published in online journal Nature Nanotechnology, demonstrate the first evidence that nanoscale molecular superconducting wires are able to be fabricated.

“Researchers have said that it is practically impossible to create nanoscale interconnects using metallic conductors because the resistance increases as the size of the wire becomes smaller," says lead author Saw-Wai Hla, an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy with Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantam Phenomena Institute. "The nanowires become so hot that they can melt and destruct. That issue, Joule heating, has been a major barrier for making nanoscale devices a reality.”

Funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the new study led by Prof. Hlas examined synthesized molecules of the chemical (BETS)2-Gacl4 – a type of organic salt- on a silver substrate. The team observed superconductivity in varying lengths of molecular chains using an imaging method called scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS).

Superconductors offer zero electrical resistance, which means an electric current flowing through one is able to persist indefinitely with no power source. The team involved had to cool the molecules to a temperature of 10 Kelvin as, even at the macroscale, materials capable of exhibiting these characteristics must be subject to incredibly low temperatures for the effect to become apparent.

The researchers found that superconductivity decreased in chains of less than 50 nanometers in length, however was still present in chains as small as four pairs of molecules.

Prof Hla states that the “study has opened up a new way to understand this phenomenon, which could lead to new materials that could be engineered to work at higher temperatures”, potentially leading to the development of nanoscale electronic devices and energy applications.

2 comments
2 comments
windykites
Surely if you have zero resistance, then there is no heating up of the wire, even if the wire is nano sized? Just keep cool!
LoveLearn
Usual literature speculations about extended Earth-launched information gathering and processing devices assume temperature-performance constraints researcher devices endure on Earth. If our low-temperature super-conducting binary logic switching circuits eventually duplicate warm-temperature computer performance, future wet-brain analogs within zero-energy-consuming space-traveling devices may be thinking, exploring, interacting and enjoying their life-like analogs much as we do today in this warm environment. Such analog \"life expectancies\" may be unlimited. They might intermittently switch on and off stored energy devices to affect environmental circumstances as they see fit. If we may someday be able to create such Universe travelers, have other intelligent entities already done it? Nice \"Mind Candy.\"