Exploring High Transition Temperature Superconductivity in a Freestanding or SrTiO_{3}-Supported CoSb Monolayer.

Abstract

As a two-dimensional entity, FeSe has been widely explored to harbor high transition temperature (high-T_{c}) superconductivity in diverse physical settings; yet to date, the underlying superconducting mechanisms are still under active debate. Here we use first-principles approaches to identify a chemically different yet structurally identical counterpart of FeSe, namely, monolayered CoSb, which is shown to be an attractive candidate to harbor high-T_{c} superconductivity as well. We first show that a freestanding CoSb monolayer can adopt the FeSe-like layered structure, even though its known bulk phase has no resemblance to layering. Next, we demonstrate that such a CoSb monolayer possesses superconducting properties comparable with or superior to FeSe, a striking finding that can be attributed to the isovalency nature of the two systems. More importantly, the layered CoSb structure can be stabilized on SrTiO_{3}(001), offering appealing alternative platforms for realizing high-T_{c} superconductivity beyond the well-established Cu- and Fe-based superconducting families. CoSb/SrTiO_{3}(001) also exhibits distinctly different magnetic properties from FeSe/SrTiO_{3}(001), which should provide a crucial new angle to elucidate the microscopic mechanisms of superconductivity in these and related systems.