Shires Graduate Research Seminar at NMSU
The NuChemE Pipeline project is pleased to co-host another Shires Graduate Research Seminar in coordination with the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering at New Mexico State University. We will be welcoming speaker Dr. Corey Frank; Assistant Professor in the NMSU Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Uranium Ditelluride and the Future of Fault-Tolerant Actinide Quantum Technologies
Abstract: Uranium ditelluride has garnered significant attention as a candidate for bulk spin-triplet superconductivity—an especially rare type of superconducting order topologically protected from the sources of decoherence which cause superconducting quantum bits to decohere. Unlike conventional BCS superconductors where superconductivity is quickly suppressed by a magnetic field, UTe2 exhibits multiple high-field superconducting phases, including a re-entrant phase above 35 T. This field-polarized superconducting phase has been observed above 73 T, and extends beyond the bc plane, suggesting a unique pairing mechanism distinct from known theories for field-enhanced superconductivity in other anisotropic systems. Even more remarkably, field-stabilized superconductivity has been observed in UTe2 without the presence of low- and intermediate-field parent phases, further challenging existing theoretical models. These findings point to a two-component, non-unitary spin-triplet order parameter with finite orbital momentum, and a potential host phase for the so-far elusive Majorana quasiparticles.
Speaker Bio: Corey E. Frank is an Assistant Professor of solid-state chemistry at NMSU. Her research focuses on the design and synthesis of new materials with frustrated magnetic structures and with topological band structure features. During her graduate work at Rutgers University, she worked on high-pressure synthesis of novel multiferroic materials inspired by natural mineral structures with her graduate advisor, Martha Greenblatt. During her more-recent postdoctoral position at NIST-Center for Neutron Research she synthesized heavy fermion materials in the pursuit of unconventional superconductivity with condensed matter physicist, Nicholas Butch. Dr. Frank is actively seeking new students to join her laboratory.
Location: Jett Hall 213
Time: 1:30 pm – 2:20 pm
Date: Friday, December 6th, 2024
Email NuChemE Project Coordinator to join via zoom (klindema@nmsu.edu)