Dear colleagues,
let me invite you to the next institute seminar tomorrow Thursday 28 April 2026 at 10:00 in Meeting room 101. This week presentation will be done by:
Dr. Bernd Aichner
Quantum Transport Lab, University of Vienna
How to Locally Alter the Electronic Properties of Cuprate Superconductors by Helium Ion Irradiation
Abstract:
Introducing artificial defects in cuprate high-critical-temperature superconductors is an important approach for controlling the arrangement and movement of magnetic flux quanta in these materials.
Using the well-controlled focused beam of a helium ion microscope, we create ultra-dense periodic patterns of hills and hollows in the potential landscape through which the vortices move. This is achieved by locally suppressing the material’s critical temperature, leading to exciting electronic transport effects, such as commensurability effects, magnetic vortex caging and the emergence of an ordered Bose glass phase.
In the first part of my talk, I will demonstrate the potential of focused helium ion irradiation for nano-structuring cuprate superconductors and present the effects of artificial defects in electronic transport measurements. In the second part, I will systematically explain the impact of helium ion irradiation on various electronic properties of the material, depending on ion energy and irradiation fluence.
These findings should also help with applying helium irradiation for other projects on cuprate superconductors but also indicate some limitations.
We look forward to seeing you.