Researchers have developed a laser technique that can switch superconductivity on and off within a material at nanometer scale, potentially simplifying the manufacture of quantum components and ultra-efficient electronics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists at Politecnico di Milano, Barcelona\u2019s ICMAB-CSIC and the University of Li\u00e8ge used focused laser beams to alter oxygen concentrations inside a high-temperature superconductor, creating precisely defined superconducting and insulating regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technique addresses a longstanding manufacturing obstacle. High-temperature superconductors can carry electrical current without resistance when cooled, but their fragile ceramic structure makes conventional nanoscale patterning difficult. Small changes in oxygen content can also fundamentally change their electrical behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of physically removing material, the researchers adjusted laser power and exposure time to control oxygen distribution locally. This allowed them to produce adjacent regions with different electrical properties and continuous transitions between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy varying the laser power and exposure time, we were able to create regions with different properties,\u201d said Irene Biancardi, Lead Author and Researcher at Politecnico di Milano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers say the approach could enable customized superconducting resonators, memory devices and components for quantum computing, where precise control of material properties is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High-temperature superconductors are attractive because some can operate using liquid nitrogen cooling, which is less costly than the cooling required for many conventional superconductors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the technique remains a research development rather than a proven industrial manufacturing process. Its practical value will depend on whether precisely patterned structures can be produced reliably and integrated into functional devices at industrial scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Researchers have developed a laser technique that can switch superconductivity on and off within a material at nanometer scale, potentially simplifying the manufacture of quantum components and ultra-efficient electronics. Scientists at Politecnico di Milano, Barcelona\u2019s ICMAB-CSIC and the University of Li\u00e8ge used focused laser beams to alter oxygen concentrations inside a high-temperature superconductor, creating precisely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":171977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[649,21942,93],"tags":[27046,27050,27047,27051,27049,3038,27042,3295,26079,27044,27005,27048,27043,27045],"class_list":["post-171976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manufacturing","category-quantum","category-top-stories","tag-advanced-materials","tag-high-temperature-superconductors","tag-icmab-csic","tag-laser-writing","tag-nanoscale-superconductivity","tag-nanotechnology","tag-politecnico-di-milano","tag-quantum-computing","tag-quantum-hardware","tag-quantum-technologies","tag-semiconductor-research","tag-superconducting-electronics","tag-superconductivity","tag-university-of-liege"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171978,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171976\/revisions\/171978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}