Reentrant Superconductivity Research Articles

Orphan high field superconductivity in non-superconducting uranium ditelluride.

Reentrant superconductivity is an uncommon phenomenon in which the destructive effects of magnetic field on superconductivity are mitigated, allowing a zero-resistance state to survive under conditions that would otherwise destroy it. Typically, the reentrant superconducting region derives from a zero-field parent superconducting phase. Here, we show that in UTe2 crystals extreme applied magnetic fields give rise to an unprecedented high-field superconductor that lacks a zero-field antecedent. This high-field orphan superconductivity exists at angles offset between 29o and 42o from the crystallographic b to c axes with applied fields between 37 T and 52 T. The stability of field-induced orphan superconductivity presented in this work defies both empirical precedent and theoretical explanation and demonstrates that high-field superconductivity can exist in an otherwise non-superconducting material.

Robust and reentrant superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene

Robust and reentrant superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene

Field-induced compensation of magnetic exchange as the possible origin of reentrant superconductivity in UTe2

The potential spin-triplet heavy-fermion superconductor UTe2 exhibits signatures of multiple distinct superconducting phases. For field aligned along the b axis, a metamagnetic transition occurs at μ0Hm ≈ 35 T. It is associated with magnetic fluctuations that may be beneficial for the field-reinforced superconductivity surviving up to Hm. Once the field is tilted away from the b towards the c axis, a reentrant superconducting phase emerges just above Hm. In order to better understand this remarkably field-resistant superconducting phase, we conducted magnetic-torque and magnetotransport measurements in pulsed magnetic fields. We determine the record-breaking upper critical field of μ0Hc2 ≈ 73 T and its evolution with angle. Furthermore, the normal-state Hall effect experiences a drastic suppression indicative of a reduced band polarization above Hm in the angular range around 30° caused by a partial compensation between the applied field and an exchange field. This promotes the Jaccarino-Peter effect as a likely mechanism for the reentrant superconductivity above Hm.

Effect of Fermi surface topology change on the Kagome superconductor CeRu2 under pressure

The cubic Laves phase compound CeRu2 with a Kagome substructure of Ru has been investigated to understand myriad fascinating phenomena resulting from competition among its various physical and geometric features. Such phenomena include flat bands, van Hove singularities, Dirac cones, reentrant superconductivity, magnetism, the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state, valence fluctuations, time-irreversible anisotropic s-state superconductivity, etc. Extensive studies have thus been carried out since 1958 when the highly unusual coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism was proposed for the mixed compounds (Ce,Gd)Ru2. Activity has accelerated in recent years due to increasing interest in topological states in superconductors. However, there has been little investigation of the mutual influence of these fascinating states. Therefore, we systematically investigated the superconductivity and possible Fermi surface topological change in CeRu2via magnetic, resistivity, and structural measurements under pressure up to ∼168 GPa. An unusual phase diagram that suggests an intriguing interplay between the compound's superconducting order and Fermi surface topological order has been constructed. A resurgence in its superconducting transition temperature was observed above 28 GPa. Our experiments have identified a structural transition above 76 GPa and a few tantalizing phase transitions driven by high pressure. Our high-pressure results further suggest that superconductivity and Fermi surface topology in CeRu2 are strongly intertwined.

Reentrant proximity-induced superconductivity for GeTe semimetal

Reentrant proximity-induced superconductivity for GeTe semimetal

Reentrant Proximity-Induced Superconductivity for GeTe Semimetal

We experimentally investigate charge transport in In–GeTe and In–GeTe–In proximity devices, which are formed as junctions between superconducting indium leads and thick single crystal flakes of α-GeTe topological semimetal. We observe nonmonotonic effects of the applied external magnetic field, including reentrant superconductivity in In–GeTe–In Josephson junctions: supercurrent reappears at some finite magnetic field. For a single In–GeTe Andreev junction, the superconducting gap is partially suppressed in zero magnetic field, while the gap is increased nearly to the bulk value for some finite field before its full suppression. We discuss possible reasons for the results obtained, taking into account spin polarization of Fermi arc surface states in topological semimetal \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\alpha $$\\end{document}-GeTe with a strong spin–orbit coupling. In particular, the zero-field surface state spin polarization partially suppresses the superconductivity, while it is recovered due to the modified spin-split surface state configuration in finite fields. As an alternative possible scenario, the transition into the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state is discussed. However, the role of strong spin–orbit coupling in forming the nonmonotonic behavior has not been analyzed for heterostructures in the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state, which is crucial for junctions involving GeTe topological semimetal.

High magnetic field superconductivity in a two-band superconductor

We present a mechanism allowing for superconductivity at high magnetic fields, beyond the Pauli-Chandrasekhar-Clogston limit. We consider spin splitting induced by an in-plane external magnetic field in a superconductor with two relevant bands close to the Fermi level. The magnetic field therefore controls which bands are available for Cooper pair formation. The presence of interband superconducting pairing, i.e., Cooper pairs formed by electrons with different band indices, produces high-field reentrant superconducting domains, whose critical magnetic field violates the Pauli-Chandrasekhar-Clogston limit. We analyze how the interband superconducting domains are influenced by the band parameters, and show that, for a certain range of parameters, the system presents two separate superconducting regions, for low and high magnetic field.

Effect of nonhydrostatic pressure on the superconducting kagome metal CsV3Sb5

High-pressure single-crystal x-ray diffraction experiments reveal that the superconducting kagome metal ${\mathrm{CsV}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{5}$ transforms from hexagonal ($P6/mmm$) to monoclinic ($C2/m$) symmetry above 10 GPa if nonhydrostatic pressure conditions are created in a diamond anvil cell with silicon oil as the pressure-transmitting medium. This is contrary to the behavior of ${\mathrm{CsV}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{5}$ under quasihydrostatic conditions in neon, with the hexagonal symmetry retained up to at least 20 GPa. Monoclinic distortion leaves the kagome planes almost unchanged, but deforms honeycomb nets of the Sb atoms. While the onset of the distortion almost coincides with the reentrance of superconductivity, our ab initio density-functional calculations reveal only minor changes in the electronic structure compared to the quasihydrostatic case. In particular, Fermi surface reconstruction driven by the formation of interlayer Sb-Sb bonds is observed in both monoclinic and hexagonal ${\mathrm{CsV}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{5}$ structures at high pressures and comes out as the likely cause for the reentrant behavior.

Effects of scattering on the field-induced Tc enhancement in thin superconducting films in a parallel magnetic field

The problem of a thin superconducting film in a parallel magnetic field, first discussed in the classical paper by Ginzburg and Landau for temperatures close to the critical, is revisited with the help of the microscopic BCS theory for arbitrary temperatures taking pair-breaking and transport scattering into account. While confirming experimental findings of the $T_c$ enhancement by the magnetic field, we find that the transport scattering pushes the phase transition curve to higher fields and higher temperatures for nearly all practical scattering rates. Still, the $T_c$ enhancement disappears in the dirty limit. We also consider intriguing changes, such as re-entrant superconductivity, caused to the phase boundary by pair-breaking magnetic ions spread on one of the film faces. These features await experimental verification.

Cascade excitation of vortex motion and reentrant superconductivity in flexible Nb thin films

High quality Nb films were successfully prepared on both flexible polyimide (PI) and rigid Al2O3 substrates and their transport properties were systematically studied at various applied currents, external magnetic fields, and sample orientations. It is found that a curved Nb/PI film exhibits quite different superconducting transition and vortex dynamics compared to the flat Nb/Al2O3 film. For the curved Nb/PI film, smooth superconducting transitions were obtained at low currents, while unexpected cascade structures were revealed in the ρ(T) curves at high currents. We attribute this phenomenon to the gradient distribution of vortex density together with a variation of superconductivity along the curved film. In addition, reentrant superconductivity was induced in the curved Nb/PI thin film by properly choosing the measurement conditions. We attribute this effect to the vortex pinning from both in-plane vortices and out-of-plane vortices. This work reveals the complex transport properties of curved superconducting thin films, providing important insights for further theoretical investigations and practical developments of flexible superconductors.

Flat-band-induced superconductivity in synthetic bilayer optical lattices

Stacking two layers of graphene with a relative twist angle gives rise to moir\'e patterns, which can strongly modify electronic behavior and may lead to unconventional superconductivity. A synthetic version of twisted bilayers can be engineered with cold atoms in optical lattices. Here, the bilayer structure is mimicked through coupling between atomic sublevels, and the twist is achieved by a spatial modulation of this coupling. In the present paper, we investigate the superconducting behavior of fermionic atoms in such a synthetic twisted bilayer lattice. Attractive interactions between the atoms are treated on the mean-field level, and the superconducting behavior is analyzed via the self-consistently determined pairing gap. A strong enhancement of the pairing gap is found, when a quasi-flat band structure occurs at the Fermi surface, reflecting the prominent role played by the twist on the superconductivity. The tunability of interactions allows for the switching of superconducting correlations from intra (synthetic) layer to inter (synthetic) layer. This includes also the intermediate scenario, in which the competition between inter- and intra-layer coupling completely destroys the superconducting behavior, resulting in re-entrant superconductivity upon tuning of the interactions

Reentrant superconductivity due to inter-band off-diagonal hopping in a two-band superconductivity model

Reentrant superconductivity due to inter-band off-diagonal hopping in a two-band superconductivity model

Superatomic-Charge-Density-Wave in Cluster-Assembled Au6Te12Se8 Superconductors.

Superatomic crystals are a class of hierarchical materials composed of atomically precise clusters assembled via van der Waals or covalent-like interactions. Au6Te12Se8, an all-inorganic superatomic superconductor exhibiting superatomic-charge-density-wave (S-CDW), provides the first platform to study the response of its collective quantum phenomenon to the external pressure in superatomic crystals. We reveal a competition between S-CDW and superconductivity in an ultra-narrow pressure range. Distinct from conventional CDW ordering, S-CDW shows the lowest threshold (0.1 GPa) toward external pressure that is 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than other atomic compounds. Prominently, a second superconducting phase emerges above 7.3 GPa with a threefold enhancement in the transition temperature (Tc) to 8.5 K, indicating a switch of the conduction channel from the a- to b-axis. In situ synchrotron diffractions and theoretical calculations reveal a pressure-mediated mesoscopic slip of the superatoms and a 2D-3D transition of the Fermi surface topology, which well explains the observed dimensional crossover of conductivity and re-entrant superconductivity.

Observation of Coexisting Dirac Bands and Moiré Flat Bands in Magic-Angle Twisted Trilayer Graphene.

Moiré superlattices that consist of two or more layers of 2D materials stacked together with a small twist angle have emerged as a tunable platform to realize various correlated and topological phases, such as Mott insulators, unconventional superconductivity, and quantum anomalous Hall effect. Recently, magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene (MATTG) has shown both robust superconductivity similar to magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene and other unique properties, including the Pauli-limit violating and re-entrant superconductivity. These rich properties are deeply rooted in its electronic structure under the influence of distinct moiré potential and mirror symmetry. Here, combining nanometer-scale spatially resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, the as-yet unexplored band structure of MATTG near charge neutrality is systematically measured. These measurements reveal the coexistence of the distinct dispersive Dirac band with the emergent moiré flat band, showing nice agreement with the theoretical calculations. These results serve as a stepstone for further understanding of the unconventional superconductivity in MATTG.

Nonlocal Long-Range Synchronization of Planar Josephson-Junction Arrays

We study arrays of planar $\mathrm{Nb}$ Josephson junctions with contacts to intermediate electrodes, which allow measurements of individual junctions and, thus, provide an insight into intricate array dynamics. We observe strong indications for array phase locking, despite a significant interjunction separation. Several unusual phenomena are reported, such as a bistable critical current with reentrant superconductivity upon switching of nearby junctions; and ``incorrect'' Shapiro steps, occurring at mixing frequencies between the external rf radiation and the internal Josephson frequency in nearby junctions. Our results reveal a surprisingly strong and long-range interjunction interaction, which is attributed to nonlocality of planar-junction electrodynamics, caused by the long-range spreading of stray electromagnetic fields. The nonlocality greatly enhances the high-frequency interjunction coupling and enables large-scale synchronization. Therefore, we conclude that planar geometry is advantageous for the realization of coherent Josephson electronics.

Orbital selective Kondo effect in heavy fermion superconductor UTe2

Heavy fermion systems emerge from the collective Kondo effect, and their superconductivity can serve as a promising platform for realizing next-generation quantum technologies. However, it has been a great challenge to explore many-body effects in heavy fermion systems with ab-initio approaches. We computed the electronic structure of UTe2 without purposive judgements, such as intentional selection of on-site Coulomb interaction and disregarding spin-orbit coupling. We show that U-5f electrons are highly localized in the paramagnetic normal state, giving rise to the Kondo effect. It is also found that the hybridization between U-5f and U-6d predominantly in the orthorhombic ab-plane is responsible for the high-temperature Kondo effect. In contrast, the hybridization between U-5f and Te-5p along the c-axis manifests the Kondo scattering at a much lower temperature, which could be responsible for the low-temperature upturn of the c-axis resistivity. Our results show that the electron correlation in UTe2 is orbital selective, which naturally elucidates the recent experimental observations of anomalous temperature dependence of resistivity. Furthermore, we suggest that the Kondo effect is suppressed at high pressure owing to weak localization of magnetic moments, which results from enhanced U-5f electron hopping. Our discovery provides significant insight toward understanding anisotropic quantum behavior including selective re-entrant superconductivity in heavy fermion UTe2.

Quenched randomness, thermal fluctuations, and reentrant superconductivity: Application to UTe2

Reentrant superconductivity has been observed in the candidate spin-triplet superconductor UTe$_2$ as a function of the magnetic field applied along the hard axis. Resistivity measurements have shown, a broadened superconducting transition appears near the minimal $T_c$, highlighting the importance of superconducting fluctuations in this regime. We present a phenomenological study assuming a field-driven first-order transition between two superconducting states. We show that with quenched randomness, inhomogeneity-enhanced superconducting fluctuations near the transition could naturally account for both the reentrant superconductivity as well as the broadened superconducting transition.

Pair density wave and reentrant superconducting tendencies originating from valley polarization

We investigate superconducting pairing tendencies of a two-dimensional electron fluid with both valley and spin degrees of freedom, both without and in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field. We present suggestive theoretical arguments that spontaneous valley polarization can lead to exotic singlet superconducting tendencies, including pair-density-wave order at zero field and re-entrant superconductivity at high field. We also find a reduced magnetic response in the polarized valley, which allows a finite violation of the Pauli limit. These results are obtained by a mean-field approach to a generalized $t$-$J$ model on a triangular lattice and in the dilute limit. Phenomenological similarities to results of recent magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene experiments are noted.

Electrical Transport Measurements on Layered La(O,F)BiS2 under Extremely High Pressure

Layered La(O,F)BiS2 exhibits drastic enhancements of the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) under high pressure among the BiS2-based superconducting family. However, the high-pressure application beyond a high-Tc phase of the monoclinic structure has not been conducted. In this study, the electrical transport properties in La(O,F)BiS2 single crystal are measured under high pressures up to 83 GPa. An insulating phase without superconductivity is observed under a higher-pressure region above 16 GPa. Moreover, the sample exhibits metallicity and superconductivity above 60 GPa. The newly observed hidden semiconducting phase and reentrant superconductivity have attracted much attention in BiS2-based compounds.

Reentrant superconductivity in a hybrid heterostructure with a high transparency barrier

Within the framework of the self-consistent effective field approximation of the time-dependent perturbation theory, an influence of the electron tunneling on the spontaneously induced order parameters in a normal metal–superconductor hybrid structure is considered. For a normal-metal model, which does not take into account electron-electron scattering, as well as electron-phonon coupling, a critical barrier transparency, corresponding to the disappearance of superconductivity in the ground state, was obtained. The presence of incoherent excitations leads to a complex relationship between the effects of ordering, thermal fluctuations, and tunneling. Near the critical barrier transparency, this can stabilize a superconducting state in the certain temperature intervals. As a result, a reentrant superconductivity phenomenon was observed. The studied spectral properties of the hybrid structure reflect the existence of both coherent and incoherent elementary excitations.