Field-Induced Superconductivity in Electric Double Layer Transistors

Electric field tuning of superconductivity has been a long-standing issue in solid state physics since the invention of the field-effect transistor (FET) in 1960. Owing to limited available carrier density in conventional FET devices, electric-field-induced superconductivity was believed to be possible in principle but impossible in practice. However, in the past several years, this limitation has been overcome by the introduction of an electrochemical concept, and electric-field-induced superconductivity has been realized. In the electric double layer (EDL) formed at the electrochemical interfaces, an extremely high electric field is generated and hence high-density charge carriers sufficient to induce superconductivity exist and are collectively used as a charge accumulation device known as an EDL capacitor. Field-induced superconductivity has been used to establish the relationship between T-c and carrier density and can now be used to search for new superconductors. Here, we review electric-field-induced superconductivity using an FET device, with a particular focus on the latest advances in EDL transistors.