Daily Overview: The featured work highlights the regulation of magnetic-field reentrant superconductivity and the underlying quantum competition mechanisms in infinite-layer nickelates via chemical doping. In [1], a research team employed a megapascal-level high-pO₂-assisted chemical synthesis route to successfully fabricate heavy-rare-earth-doped infinite-layer nickelate thin films with the composition (RE₁₋ᵧRE’ᵧ)₁₋ₓEuₓNiO₂ (where RE/RE’ denotes Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, or Dy). Experimental observations indicate that strong magnetic-field reentrant superconductivity with uniaxial anisotropy exists at the boundaries of the superconducting dome (in both the underdoped and overdoped regions), a phenomenon attributed to the quantum competition between pairing promoted by magnetic fluctuations under Eu²⁺ 4f⁷ electron correlations and exchange field interactions. By introducing different rare-earth elements to modulate the RE magnetism, the study achieved effective control of this quantum criticality, not only enhancing the reentrant effect but also elevating the critical temperature (Tc) to approximately 40.1 K and achieving a critical current density of about 266 kA/cm² at 2 K, which significantly outperforms Sr/Ca-doped systems. This work reveals the critical role of 4f orbital effects in the superconducting phase diagram of nickelates, providing an ideal platform for investigating unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality. arXiv submission processing window: 2026-10-20 00:00 to 2026-10-20 00:00 UTC.

1. A chemical avenue to manipulate field-reentrant superconducting rivalries in infinite layer nickelates

  • Relevance Score: 4.8863
  • Authors: Haowen Han, Yusong Zhao, Yi Bian, Tong Ma, Wenlong Yang, Shaohua Yang, Binghui Ge, Hongliang Dong, Chuanying Xi, Ze Wang, Nuofu Chen, Tian Shang, Toni Shiroka, Zaher Salman, Jia-Cai Nie, Ho-Kwang Mao, Jikun Chen
  • Affiliations: North China Electric Power University, University of Science and Technology Beijing, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, East China Normal University, PSI Center for Neutron and Muon Sciences, Anhui University, Institute for Shanghai Advanced Research in Physical Sciences
  • Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.22026
  • Paper page: A chemical avenue to manipulate field-reentrant superconducting rivalries in infinite layer nickelates

Summary: This study successfully fabricated heavy-rare-earth-doped infinite-layer nickelate thin films with the composition (RE1-yRE’y)1-xEuxNiO2 (where RE/RE’ denotes Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, or Dy) via a megapascal-level high-pO2-assisted chemical synthesis route. The investigation reveals a strong reentrant superconductivity with uniaxial anisotropy at the boundaries of the superconducting dome, specifically in the underdoped and overdoped regions, which arises from a quantum competition between magnetic fluctuations promoting pairing under Eu2+ 4f7 electron correlations and exchange field interactions. By introducing different rare-earth elements to modulate the RE magnetism, this quantum criticality is tunable, resulting in either an enhanced reentrant effect or an elevation of the critical temperature Tc to approximately 40.1 K, alongside the achievement of a critical current density of about 266 kA/cm² at 2 K, which significantly outperforms Sr/Ca-doped systems. These findings elucidate the critical role of 4f orbital effects in the superconducting phase diagram of nickelates and provide an ideal platform for studying unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality.