Research Description
Brad Ramshaw is developing new ultrasound-based techniques to measure the superconducting gaps of materials with low transition temperatures — below 10 kelvin. His approach includes the development of high-frequency ultrasound attenuation for bulk superconductors, and surface acoustic wave measurements for atomically thin, 2D systems like graphene. While ultrasound has proven to be a powerful tool for studying superconductors for nearly 100 years, modern materials require much higher ultrasound frequencies — an area where Ramshaw’s group has pioneered new methods for generation and detection. Their work also adapts surface acoustic wave technology to probe the tunable properties of 2D superconductors, with the potential to advance our ability to detect and measure topological superconductors.
Research Impact
Low-temperature superconductors are plentiful, fundamentally interesting, and of technological importance, but many of our existing techniques for studying superconductors cannot be used below 10 kelvin. Professor Ramshaw is developing new techniques to address critical gaps in our experimental capabilities. Ramshaw’s experiments aim to offer transformative insights similar to those that revolutionized the study of high-temperature superconductors in the late 1980s. He hopes to guide future research and applications by bringing clarity to superconductors where discussions around “pairing symmetry” have been only speculative.
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Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative 
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