Precision Magnetometry Probing Inhomogeneous Meissner Effect in Bilayer Nickelate Superconductor
Author: Kitagawa, Kentaro
Affiliation: The Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo
Type: Contributed Talk
Session: Nickelates: pressure, strain, and materials tuning
Date and Time: 22.07.2026, 12:15 - 12:35
In 2023, high-temperature superconductivity with Tc ~ 80 K was reported in the bilayer Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate La3Ni2O7 under ~14 GPa. Two critical issues, however, remained: the nominally "bilayer" phase tends to contain intergrown single-layer and trilayer impurities, and Meissner diamagnetism has rarely been detected, leaving bulk superconductivity unestablished. Partial substitution of La^{3+} by Pr^{3+}/Sm^{3+} has mitigated these problems, yet the superconducting volume fraction of the 80 K phase remains far below unity, necessitating continued material optimization. To accelerate the feedback cycle between synthesis and characterization, we are pursuing high-precision, high-throughput evaluation of the Meissner diamagnetic volume fraction. Using a polycrystalline nano-diamond pressure cell capable of resolving diamagnetic susceptibilities below 1% at pressures exceeding 20 GPa, we present SQUID magnetometry results that quantitatively track the evolution of the superconducting volume fraction across the bilyer nickelate series. We also introduce our ongoing development of a diamond NV-center sensing platform for local magnetometry under high pressure, targeting spatially resolved imaging of the inhomogeneous Meissner state.