The discovery of superconductivity in the Ba-La-Cu-O system (the cuprate) at the 30 K range in 1986 marked a significant breakthrough, as it far exceeded the highest known critical temperature (Tc) at the time and surpassed the predicted 30 K limit, which was thought to be the maximum before phonon-mediated electron pairing would break down due to thermal excitation. Despite recent successful observations of superconductivity in nickel-oxide-based compounds (the nickelate), superconductivity above 30 K at ambient pressure in a system that is isostructural and isoelectronic to the cuprate but without copper has remained elusive. Here, we report a superconducting Tc above 35 K under ambient pressure in hole-doped, late rare-earth infinite-layer nickel oxide (Sm-Eu-Ca-Sr)NiO2 thin films. Electron microscopy reveals a small thickness of ~2 nm of infinite-layer phase stabilised at present, which indicates a higher temperature superconductivity should be observable in clean bulk crystals.
@article{arxiv.2410.00144,
title = {High-temperature Superconducting Oxide without Copper at Ambient Pressure},
author = {S. Lin Er Chow and Zhaoyang Luo and A. Ariando},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.00144},
year = {2024}
}