Pressure effect on superconducting dichalcogenides ZrTe2 intercalated with ruthenium

• Grant number: 23/03280-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 18, 2023
• End date: November 11, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Jefferson da Silva Machado
• Grantee: Larissa Miki Ishikura
• Supervisor: Milton Torikachvili
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: San Diego State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/12392-0 - Investigation of superconductivity which emerge from Ru intercalation in a Dirac semimetal of ZrTe2 composition, BP.IC

Abstract

The scientific initiation student Larissa Miki Ishikura has been successfully synthesizing and growing high quality single crystals of RExZrTe2, where RE = Rare Earth, in which the dopant is intercalated between the Te atoms on the ZrTe2 structure. The findings in RExZrTe2 strongly suggest that the unit cell contraction has an impact on the superconducting critical temperature systematically, due to lanthanide contraction which suggesting that "Chemical pressure" plays an important role. Therefore, this proposal intends to study the electrical transport behavior under pressure for ruthenium metal intercalation. This proposal will take place at San Diego State University in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Milton Torikachvili, who has a lot of experience in the area of resistivity measurements under pressure. In addition to pressure measurements, the student will have the opportunity to learn how to measure thermoelectric properties and Seebeck coefficient, which are important in materials with non-trivial topology. (AU)