Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun selected the research “Emergence of superconductivity at 45 K by lanthanum and phosphorus co-doping of CaFe2As2” performed by Professor Minoru Nohara, Associate Professor Kazutaka Kudo, Graduate Student Keita Iba and others from our university’s Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology (Faculty of Science) for inclusion in “Pioneering the Next Generation - 32 Industrial Materials Keywords”. The selection was made from candidates from universities and research organizations across the country.

The selection of these keywords is performed biennially by “Industrial Materials” magazine, published by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, and consists of 32 entries that are considered to be exciting new materials at the start of their life, or innovative materials that could see practical application with further improvements. Professor Nohara and his team received attention for their success in making iron-based superconductors inexpensively and without the use of almost any rare earth elements, and then achieving the highest ever temperature at which a superconductive state of zero electrical resistance has been achieved for this material, 45 K (-228 degrees).

In the past, iron-based superconductors have been primarily made from expensive rare earth elements, such as samarium. The material created by Professor Nohara and his team, however, is mainly composed of calcium and iron, with only small amounts of the cheapest rare earth elements, lanthanum and phosphorus, mixed in. The material is extremely easy to process into wires, and application is expected in medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the superconducting magnets used to make liner motor trains levitate .

Research Paper: K. Kudo, K. Iba, M. Takasuga, Y. Kitahama, J. Matsumura, M. Danura, Y. Nogami, and M. Nohara, Emergence of superconductivity at 45 K by lanthanum and phosphorus co-doping of CaFe2As2, Scientific Reports 3, 1478 (2013). (DOI: 10.1038/srep01478)
http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130318/srep01478/full/srep01478.html