A team of researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the TU Dresden have recently published a paper in Physical Review B.
The team led by Dr. Thomas Herrmannsdörfer from the HZDR's High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD) studied a material having bismuth and nickel (Bi3Ni) elements of nano-sized diameter.
The TU Dresden team led by Professor Michael Ruck had developed a chemical synthesis technique at reduced temperatures. The nano size and structure of the intermetallic compound made the normally non-magnetic material change. Dr. Herrmannsdörfer says it is possible to change the properties of a substance by downsizing it to a nanoscale.
Ferromagnetism suppresses superconductivity. But the Dresden team showed that in high magnetic fields the nano-material displays entirely different properties from the same material in a bigger size. The resulting compound was found to be simultaneously ferromagnetic and superconducting.
According to Dr. Herrmannsdörfer, bismuth-3-nickel exhibits a unique superconductivity. The team calls this technique ‘the bundling of contrary properties in a single strand’.
The TU Dresden and the HZDR are collaborating on this research program.
Source: http://www.helmholtz.de/en