Jenny Davern
Main Focus
Ultra-low temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy of superconducting and magnetic heterostructures
I am interested in combining superconducting and magnetic materials to create unconventional spin triplet superconductivity. Superconductivity and magnetism are, generally speaking, incompatible macroscopic quantum phenomena. However, when coupled via the proximity effect, superconductors and magnetic materials possessing a noncollinear spin texture can generate a novel type of superconducting pairing known as spin-polarised triplet pairing. This type of superconductivity combines the dissipationless charge transport of supercurrents with the spin transport of spin-polarised current. This spin-polarised supercurrent could then in principle be used to manipulate magnetic domain wall motion in cryogenic RACETRACK technology, paving the way for lossless, dynamic, magnet memory storage.
My research explores different material combinations which possess the necessary ingredients to generate spin triplet superconductivity. I work material growth experts within the NISE department to fabricate novel superconducting-magnetic heterostructures and investigate their electronic, magnetic and superconducting properties using ultra-low temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). STM is a powerful imaging and spectroscopic tool which can study material properties on the atomic scale. With atomic precision, milli-Kelvin temperatures and high applied magnetic fields, STM is the ideal tool for locally investigating exotic quantum states of matter such as spin triplet superconductivity.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
- Doctoral Candidate (September 2024-present) - Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Supervisor: Prof. Stuart Parkin
- Bachelor of Science in Physics (2020-2024), University College Cork, Ireland
- Bachelor's Thesis: "Electronic Structure Visualisation in a Transition Metal Dichalcogenide", Supervisor: Prof. J.C. Séamus Davis
- Leaving Certificate (2020) - Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ, Limerick, Ireland