Superconductivity in the Parent Infinite-Layer Nickelate NdNiO2

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Abstract
We report evidence for superconductivity with onset temperatures up to 11 K in thin films of the infinite-layer nickelate parent compound NdNiO 2 . A combination of oxide molecular beam epitaxy and atomic hydrogen reduction yields samples with high crystallinity and low residual resistivities, a substantial fraction of which exhibit superconducting transitions. We survey a large series of samples with a variety of techniques, including electrical transport, scanning transmission electron microscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, to investigate the possible origins of superconductivity. We propose that superconductivity could be intrinsic to the undoped infinite-layer nickelates but suppressed by disorder due to a possibly sign-changing order parameter, a finding which would necessitate a reconsideration of the nickelate phase diagram. Another possible hypothesis is that the parent materials can be hole doped from randomly dispersed apical oxygen atoms, which would suggest an alternative pathway for achieving superconductivity.
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Funding Information
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-21-1-0168, FA9550-23-1-0161)
  • U.S. Department of Energy
  • Basic Energy Sciences (DE-SC0019414)
  • National Science Foundation (DMR-2104427, DMR-2039380, NNCI-2025233)
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF3850, GBMF9073)
  • Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CEX2023-001263-S)
  • Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2023-152225NB-I00)
  • Generalitat de Catalunya (2021 SGR 00445)
  • Indiana University
  • Brookhaven National Laboratory (DESC0012704)
  • Canadian Light Source
  • University of Saskatchewan
  • Canada Foundation for Innovation
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  • National Research Council Canada
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Government of Saskatchewan
  • Cornell University
  • Kavli Institute at Cornell, Cornell University
  • Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (DMR-2039380)

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