Starting this month, we will host monthly early-career seminars to provide a friendly, supportive platform for young researchers to showcase and communicate their research in English and to expand their professional networks by connecting with researchers in Japan and abroad.
We are pleased to announce the first seminar.
Speaker：Dr. Elina Zhakina
Affiliation：Department of Applied Physics, the University of Tokyo
Title：Reconfigurable three-dimensional superconducting nanoarchitecture
Date and Time： January 30, 2026 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Hybrid
*followed by social tea time from 5-6 pm for in-person participants
Place：Room 206 of the Faculty of Science Building No. 1
Zoom：https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82658254836?pwd=Y1GcCZlqkTk9XEUzyhzO8aSHcYvCKP.1
Meeting ID: 826 5825 4836
Passcode: 740551
Abstract:
Three-dimensional nanostructuring offers new possibilities to control the emergent properties of quantum materials via geometric effect. In nanomagnetism, for example, the introduction of curvature can lead to exotic dynamic effects, as well as curvature-induced chirality and anisotropy. In superconductivity, the introduction of three-dimensional geometries offers a route to controlling the emergent properties of the system, with new opportunities for devices [1-4]. However, while the fabrication of 3D magnetic nanostructures is well established, there remain challenges in realizing three-dimensional superconducting systems [2, 3].
In this seminar, I will present a new route of gaining control over the emergent properties in superconductors by patterning three-dimensional nano geometries via focused electron-beam-induced-deposition [4] of tungsten, allowing the implementation of a prototype direct-write three-dimensional superconducting nanostructure with a critical temperature on the order of 5 K. As a result, nanoscale patterning with a resolution on the order of 180 nm lies between two fundamental superconducting length scales: the coherence length and the London penetration depth, indicating that the confinement effects manifest in the interaction with the applied field and in the properties and behaviour of the superconducting vortices. This method of fabrication opens the door to the evaluation of arbitrary 3D geometries and unveils a wide perspective in experimental studies of the dynamics of the superconducting vortices in curved 3D nanoarchitectures [5].
[1] V. M. Fomin et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 120, 090501 (2022).
[2] F. Porrati et al., ACS Nano 13, 6287 (2019).
[3] R. Córdoda et al., Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 11, 1198–1206 (2020).
[4] L. Skoric et al., Nano Letters 20 (1), 184-191 (2020)
[5] E. Zhakina, et al. Advanced Functional Materials (2025): 2506057.