Superconducting Phase Research Articles

Majorana corner states on the dice lattice

Lattice geometry continues providing exotic topological phases in condensed matter physics. Exciting recent examples are the higher-order topological phases, manifesting via localized lower-dimensional boundary states. Moreover, flat electronic bands with a non-trivial topology arise in various lattices and can hold a finite superfluid density, bounded by the Chern number C. Here we consider attractive interaction in the dice lattice that hosts flat bands with C = ± 2 and show that the induced superconducting state exhibits a second-order topological phase with mixed singlet-triplet pairing. The second-order nature of the topological superconducting phase is revealed by the zero-energy Majorana bound states at the lattice corners. Hence, the topology of the normal state dictates the nature of the Majorana localization. These findings suggest that flat bands with a higher Chern number provide feasible platforms for inducing higher-order topological superconductivity.

Holographic entanglement entropy with Power-Maxwell electrodynamics in higher dimensional AdS black hole spacetime* *Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11665015), the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Planning Project of China (qiankehejichu-ZK[2021]yiban026), and the Guizhou Province ordinary institutions of higher learning top science and technology talents Support plan of China (qianjiaoheKY[2019]062).

We investigate the behaviors of the scalar operator and holographic entanglement entropy in the metal/superconductor phase transition with Power-Maxwell electrodynamics in a higher dimensional background away from the probe limit. We observe that the larger parameters b and q make the condensation of the scalar operator more difficult, and the critical temperature decreases more slowly as the factors increase. In the belt geometry, the value of the entanglement entropy in the metal and superconductor phases is not only related to the the strength of the Power-Maxwell field but also to the width of the strip geometry. At the phase transition point, the discontinuous slope of entanglement entropy is universal for different model factors. It turns out that holographic entanglement entropy is a powerful tool to probe the properties of the phase transition in this holographic superconductor model.

Orbital-selective charge-density wave in TaTe4

TaTe4, a metallic charge-density wave (CDW) material discovered decades ago, has attracted renewed attention due to its rich interesting properties, such as pressure-induced superconductivity and candidate nontrivial topological phase. Here, using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculation, we systematically investigate the electronic structure of TaTe4. At 26 K, we observe a CDW gap as large as 290 meV, which persists up to 500 K. The CDW-modulated band structure shows a complex reconstruction that closely correlates with the lattice distortion. Inside the CDW gap, there exist highly dispersive energy bands contributing to the remnant Fermi surface and metallic behavior in the CDW state. Interestingly, our ab initio calculation reveals that the large CDW gap mainly opens in the electronic states with out-of-plane orbital components, while the in-gap metallic states originate from in-plane orbitals, suggesting an orbital texture that couples with the CDW order. Our results shed light on the interplay between electron, lattice, and orbital in quasi-one-dimensional CDW materials.

Effect of wire diameter on structure and electrical properties of (Al + Al2O3)-sheathed MgB2 with Nb barrier

Effect of wire diameter and annealing on the properties of internal magnesium diffusion (IMD)-processed MgB2 composite wires is studied by establishing a correlation with the characteristics of the interfacial reaction zones developed at Mg − B and barrier (Nb) – sheath (Al + Al2O3) interfaces. The MgB2 superconductor phase grows at the Mg − B interface along with the B-rich MgB4 phase. Formation of MgB2 prior to MgB4 is anticipated owing to a relatively lower Gibbs free energy at annealing temperatures studied. An intermetallic NbAl3 phase has developed at the barrier – sheath interface whose thickness decreases with an increase in the wire diameter. Development of NbAl3 further provides mechanical reinforcement and aids at yielding a dense superconductor phase. Resistivity – voltage characteristics of wire indicates the formation of MgB2 through a huge drop in resistivity values across the core of the wire. An annealing temperature of 645 °C near the melting point of pure Mg (650 °C) and annealing time of 120 min results in highest critical current of the MgB2 wire. Annealing time beyond 120 min has shown an impediment to the flow current due to crack propagation possibly because of accumulation of stresses within the developed superconductor phase due to grain growth. A significantly greater resistance for the wire with the smallest diameter is attributed to the formation of a thicker NbAl3 phase. However, highest engineering current density has also been attained by the wire with the smallest diameter annealed at 645 °C for 60 min.

Majorana Corner Modes and Flat-Band Majorana Edge Modes in Superconductor/Topological-Insulator/Superconductor Junctions

Recently, superconductors with higher-order topology have stimulated extensive attention and research interest. Higher-order topological superconductors exhibit unconventional bulk-boundary correspondence, thus allow exotic lower-dimensional boundary modes, such as Majorana corner and hinge modes. However, higher-order topological superconductivity has yet to be found in naturally occurring materials. We investigate higher-order topology in a two-dimensional Josephson junction comprised of two s-wave superconductors separated by a topological insulator thin film. We find that zero-energy Majorana corner modes, a boundary fingerprint of higher-order topological superconductivity, can be achieved by applying magnetic field. When an in-plane Zeeman field is applied to the system, two corner modes appear in the superconducting junction. Furthermore, we also discover a two-dimensional nodal superconducting phase which supports flat-band Majorana edge modes connecting the bulk nodes. Importantly, we demonstrate that zero-energy Majorana corner modes are stable when increasing the thickness of topological insulator thin film.

Superconductivity induced by gate-driven hydrogen intercalation in the charge-density-wave compound 1T-TiSe2

Hydrogen (H) plays a key role in the near-to-room temperature superconductivity of hydrides at megabar pressures. This suggests that H doping could have similar effects on the electronic and phononic spectra of materials at ambient pressure as well. Here, we demonstrate the non-volatile control of the electronic ground state of titanium diselenide (1T-TiSe2) via ionic liquid gating-driven H intercalation. This protonation induces a superconducting phase, observed together with a charge-density wave through most of the phase diagram, with nearly doping-independent transition temperatures. The H-induced superconducting phase is possibly gapless-like and multi-band in nature, in contrast with those induced in TiSe2 via copper, lithium, and electrostatic doping. This unique behavior is supported by ab initio calculations showing that high concentrations of H dopants induce a full reconstruction of the bandstructure, although with little coupling between electrons and high-frequency H phonons. Our findings provide a promising approach for engineering the ground state of transition metal dichalcogenides and other layered materials via gate-controlled protonation.

Interfacial reactions and critical current density of Cu-sheathed Cu-doped MgB2 wire with Ti diffusion barrier

Development of reaction zones at the core Mg(Cu) – boron (B) and barrier (Ti) – sheath (Cu) interfaces of an internal magnesium diffusion (IMD) manufactured MgB2 composite wire has been studied at varying temperatures of 560–665 °C for 30 min and varying time periods of 30–180 min at 560 °C. MgB2 has predominantly formed at the Mg(Cu) – B interface with little solubility of Cu of 1–3 at%. A second phase enriched with Cu, Mg2Cu, has also formed at random locations within the MgB2 phase matrix, indicating the advantage of doping Cu in the Mg rod. However, a layer of another B-rich phase, MgB4, has also formed at a higher temperature of 665 °C with negligible solubility of Cu at the MgB2 – B interface. At the Ti – Cu interface, the formation of CuTi2, CuTi, Cu4Ti and Cu4Ti3 intermetallic phases took place. However, the Cu4Ti and Cu4Ti3 phases develop after annealing the wire at a relatively higher temperature of 620 °C and at 560 °C with progress in annealing time. Critical current density (Jc) decreases with annealing time; however, the sensitivity of Jc towards annealing time is low. Critical current density is found to be strongly dependent on the annealing temperature of the composite wires for the formation of the MgB2 superconductor phase. A maximum critical current density of ∼ 2.5 × 104 A/cm2 at 5 T and 4.2 K is attained for the Cu-doped MgB2 composite wire when annealed at 665 °C for 30 min. A maximum shift of only 0.5 K is measured for MgB2 when formed at the highest annealed temperature compared to the lowest one in this study.

Ambipolar Superconductivity with Strong Pairing Interaction in Monolayer 1T'-MoTe2.

Gate tunable two-dimensional (2D) superconductors offer significant advantages in studying superconducting phase transitions. Here, we address superconductivity in exfoliated 1T'-MoTe2 monolayers with an intrinsic band gap of ∼7.3 meV using field effect doping. Despite large differences in the dispersion of the conduction and valence bands, superconductivity can be achieved easily for both electrons and holes. The onset of superconductivity occurs near 7-8 K for both charge carrier types. This temperature is much higher than that in bulk samples. Also the in-plane upper critical field is strongly enhanced and exceeds the BCS Pauli limit in both cases. Gap information is extracted using point-contact spectroscopy. The gap ratio exceeds multiple times the value expected for BCS weak-coupling. All of these observations suggest a strong enhancement of the pairing interaction.

Phase diagram and superconductivity of calcium alanates under pressure

In this paper we present a first-principles study of the high-pressure superconducting phase diagram of calcium alanates (Ca–Al–H), based on ab-initio crystal structure prediction and anisotropic Migdal–Eliashberg Theory. Calcium alanates have been intensively studied at ambient pressure for their hydrogen-storage properties, but their high-pressure behavior is largely unknown. By performing a full scan of the ternary convex hull at several pressures between 0 and 300 GPa, we identify several new structural motifs, characterized by a high Al–H coordination, where Al d orbitals participate in the bonding. Among all new phases thus identified, we focus in particular on a phase with CaAlH7 composition, which lies on the convex hull at 300 GPa, and remains dynamically stable down to 50 GPa, with a predicted superconducting T c of 82 K, which likely represents a new promising template to achieve increase chemical precompression in ternary hydrides. Our findings reveal important insights into the structure-property relationships of calcium alanates under high pressure, and highlight a possible strategy to achieve conventional superconductivity at low pressures.

Superconductivity in hyperdoped Ge by molecular beam epitaxy

Superconducting germanium films are an intriguing material for possible applications in fields such as cryogenic electronics and quantum bits. Recently, there has been a great deal of progress in hyperdoping of Ga doped Ge using ion implantation. Thin film growth of such a material would be advantageous, allowing homoepitaxy of doped and undoped Ge films and opening possibilities for vertical Josephson junctions. Here, we present our studies on the growth of one layer of hyperdoped superconducting germanium thin film via molecular beam epitaxy. We observe a fragile superconducting phase, which is extremely sensitive to processing conditions and can easily phase-segregate, forming a percolated network of pure gallium metal. By suppressing phase segregation through temperature control, we find a superconducting phase that is unique and appears coherent to the underlying Ge substrate.

Colossal transverse magnetoresistance due to nematic superconducting phase fluctuations in a copper oxide.

Electronic anisotropy ("nematicity") has been detected in cuprate superconductors by various experimental techniques. Using angle-resolved transverse resistance (ARTR) measurements, a very sensitive and background-free technique that can detect 0.5% anisotropy in transport, we have observed it also in La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) for 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.25. A central enigma in LSCO is the rotation of the nematic director (orientation of the largest longitudinal resistance) with temperature; this has not been seen before in any material. Here, we address this puzzle by measuring the angle-resolved transverse magnetoresistance (ARTMR) in LSCO. We report the discovery of colossal transverse magnetoresistance (CTMR)-an order-of-magnitude drop in the transverse resistivity in the magnetic field of 6 T. We show that the apparent rotation of the nematic director is caused by anisotropic superconducting fluctuations, which are not aligned with the normal electron fluid, consistent with coexisting bond-aligned and diagonal nematic orders. We quantify this by modeling the (magneto-)conductivity as a sum of normal (Drude) and paraconducting (Aslamazov-Larkin) channels but extended to contain anisotropic Drude and Cooper-pair effective mass tensors. Strikingly, the anisotropy of Cooper-pair stiffness is much larger than that of the normal electrons. It grows dramatically on the underdoped side, where the fluctuations become quasi-one-dimensional. Our analysis is general rather than model dependent. Still, we discuss some candidate microscopic models, including coupled strongly-correlated ladders where the transverse (interladder) phase stiffness is low compared with the longitudinal intraladder stiffness, as well as the anisotropic superconducting fluctuations expected close to the transition to a pair-density wave state.

Laser-induced structural modulation and superconductivity in SrTiO3

Under normal conditions, stoichiometric SrTiO3 is an excellent dielectric. It shows a structural phase transition, from cubic to tetragonal, below 105 K. In this structure, well separated domains hosting tetragonal phases with different long axes exist giving rise to the so-called X, Y, and Z domains. At very low temperatures, it becomes a quantum paraelectric in which local ferroelectric domains are found at the X, Y, and Z domain boundaries. Creation of oxygen vacancy in SrTiO3 makes it conducting with low carrier density which also undergoes an unconventional superconducting transition at sub-kelvin temperatures. We have created structural phase separation with clear domain boundaries (as in the X, Y, and Z domains) at room temperature on single crystals of SrTiO3 by irradiating the surface with high power density excimer laser pulses. We find that the domain boundaries are dominantly conducting, and the irradiated crystals undergo a superconducting phase transition below 180 mK indicating that the superconducting phase appears at the domain boundaries. This concurrence of local ferroelectricity and superconductivity in lightly doped SrTiO3 supports a ferroelectric fluctuation mediated Cooper pairing in the system. The results also point out the possibility of controlling ferroelectricity and superconductivity in functional electronic devices through surface engineering.

Superconducting spin reorientation in spin-triplet multiple superconducting phases of UTe2.

Superconducting (SC) state has spin and orbital degrees of freedom, and spin-triplet superconductivity shows multiple SC phases because of the presence of these degrees of freedom. However, the observation of spin-direction rotation occurring inside the SC state (SC spin rotation) has hardly been reported. Uranium ditelluride, a recently found topological superconductor, exhibits various SC phases under pressure: SC state at ambient pressure (SC1), high-temperature SC state above 0.5 gigapascal (SC2), and low-temperature SC state above 0.5 gigapascal (SC3). We performed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ac susceptibility measurements on a single-crystal uranium ditelluride. The b axis spin susceptibility remains unchanged in SC2, unlike in SC1, and decreases below the SC2-SC3 transition with spin modulation. These unique properties in SC3 arise from the coexistence of two SC order parameters. Our NMR results confirm spin-triplet superconductivity with SC spin parallel to b axis in SC2 and unveil the remaining of spin degrees of freedom in SC uranium ditelluride.

Growth and characterization of the sputtered type-II topological semimetal PdTe2 thin films and PdTe2/Co60Fe20B20 heterostructures

The topological phases such as Dirac/Weyl semimetals are recently observed in Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). The family of materials XTe2 (with X = Pd, Pt and Ni) possesses a type-II topological semimetal (TSM) phase. Here, we report the synthesis of the layered XTe2 thin films using the industry-friendly sputtering technique. The structural and morphological qualities of the sputtered-grown XTe2 thin films are analysed using X-ray diffraction and Raman measurements. The crystallites are highly oriented along the c-axis of the sapphire substrate, which suggests that growth is driven by van der Waals epitaxy. The magneto-transport measurements namely temperature-dependent resistivity and magnetoresistance measurement in out-of-plane field configuration are performed on PdTe2 thin films. The semi-metallic trend and superconducting transition are observed in the temperature-dependent resistivity curve. The weak antilocalization behavior observed in the magnetoconductance curves at a low magnetic field signifies the possibility of a non-zero Berry phase, possibly arising from the Dirac fermionic nature of electronic states. The spin dynamics measurements are performed on the PdTe2/Co60Fe20B20 bilayers. The effective spin mixing conductance and spin current density are found to be ∼2×1020m-2and 2.5MAm-2, respectively in PdTe2/Co60Fe20B20 bilayer which are quite larger than those observed in heavy metal-ferromagnets bilayers, and comparable to MBE-grown topological insulator-ferromagnets heterostructures. This work paves the way to synthesize Te-based layered TMDs using the industrially viable sputtering technique, and demonstrates the prospects for exploring the topological superconductive phase in PdTe2 films and large spin-charge conversion efficiency in PdTe2/Co60Fe20B20 heterostructures.

Investigation of Dependence of Magnetic Properties on Sintering Temperature of Eu<sub>1.85</sub>Ce<sub>0.15</sub>CuO<sub>4+α-δ</sub> Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

Differences in particle size can affect the magnetic properties of superconductors. At the nanoscale, superconductors have different magnetic properties than those at the micro or submicron size. The difference in particle size in superconducting materials can be obtained by giving the sintering temperature difference. In this work, we focus only on the magnetic properties in Eu1.85Ce0.15CuO4+α-δ (ECCO) in the optimal-doped regime prepared by the sol-gel method with various sintering temperatures 700 °C, 800 °C and 900 ° C sizes with an annealing temperature 800 °C to obtain different particle. The lattice parameters and crystallite size were obtained using XRD. Based on the XRD results, the higher the sintering temperature variation, the larger the crystallite size produced with lattice distortion and expansion with a decrease in particle size. The magnetic properties of these materials have been investigated using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) at temperatures between 2 K and 30 K with the applied field at 5 Oe. Based on the SQUID measurement, the magnetic properties of samples sintering at 700 °C and 800 °C were found to be ferromagnetic-like behaviour, while sintering at 900 °C was found to be paramagnetic with no trace of the superconductivity phase. The differences response of magnetic properties can be associated with the effect of the differences size of the crystallites in each material, that can relate to uncompensated spins produced by the surface effect.

Generation of Electric Current by Magnetic Field at the Boundary: Quantum Scale Anomaly Versus Semiclassical Meissner Current Outside of the Conformal Limit

AbstractThe scale (conformal) anomaly can generate an electric current near the boundary of a system in the presence of a static magnetic field. The magnitude of this magnetization current, produced at zero temperature and in the absence of matter, is proportional to a beta function associated with the renormalization of the electric charge. Using first‐principle lattice simulations, this paper investigates how the breaking of the scale symmetry affects this “scale magnetic effect” near a Dirichlet boundary in scalar quantum electrodynamics (Abelian Higgs model). This study demonstrates the interplay of the generated current with vortex excitations both in symmetric (normal) and broken (superconducting) phases and compares the results with the anomalous current produced in the conformal, scale‐invariant regime. Possible experimental signatures of the effect in Dirac semimetals are discussed.

Excitonic insulator to superconductor phase transition in ultra-compressed helium

Helium, the second most abundant element in the universe, exhibits an extremely large electronic band gap of about 20 eV at ambient pressures. While the metallization pressure of helium has been accurately determined, thus far little attention has been paid to the specific mechanisms driving the band-gap closure and electronic properties of this quantum crystal in the terapascal regime (1 TPa = 10 Mbar). Here, we employ density functional theory and many-body perturbation calculations to fill up this knowledge gap. It is found that prior to reaching metallicity helium becomes an excitonic insulator (EI), an exotic state of matter in which electrostatically bound electron-hole pairs may form spontaneously. Furthermore, we predict metallic helium to be a superconductor with a critical temperature of ≈ 20 K just above its metallization pressure and of ≈ 70 K at 100 TPa. These unforeseen phenomena may be critical for improving our fundamental understanding and modeling of celestial bodies.

Pion-mediated Cooper pairing of neutrons: beyond the bare vertex approximation

In some quantum many particle systems, the fermions could form Cooper pairs by exchanging intermediate bosons. This then drives a superconducting phase transition or a superfluid transition. Such transitions should be theoretically investigated by using proper non-perturbative methods. Here we take the neutron superfluid transition as an example and study the Cooper pairing of neutrons mediated by neutral π-mesons in the low-density region of a neutron matter. We perform a non-perturbative analysis of the neutron–meson coupling and compute the pairing gap Δ, the critical density ρ c , and the critical temperature T c by solving the Dyson–Schwinger equation of the neutron propagator. We first carry out calculations under the widely used bare vertex approximation and then incorporate the contribution of the lowest-order vertex correction. This vertex correction is not negligible even at low densities and its importance is further enhanced as the density increases. The transition critical line on density-temperature plane obtained under the bare vertex approximation is substantially changed after including the vertex correction. These results indicate that the vertex corrections play a significant role and need to be seriously taken into account.

Decoupling multiphase superconductivity from normal state ordering in CeRh2As2

${\mathrm{CeRh}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ is a multiphase superconductor with ${T}_{\text{c}}=0.26$ K. The two superconducting (SC) phases, SC1 and SC2, observed for a magnetic field $H$ parallel to the $c$ axis of the tetragonal unit cell, have been interpreted as even- and odd-parity SC states, separated by a phase boundary at ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{0}{H}^{*}=4$ T. Such parity switching is possible due to a strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling at the Ce sites located in locally noncentrosymmetric environments of the globally centrosymmetric lattice. The existence of another ordered state (phase I) below a temperature ${T}_{0}\ensuremath{\approx}0.4$ K suggests an alternative interpretation of the ${H}^{*}$ transition: It separates a mixed SC$+$I (SC1) and a pure SC (SC2) state. Here, we present a detailed study of higher-quality single crystals of ${\mathrm{CeRh}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$, showing much sharper signatures at ${T}_{\text{c}}=0.31$ K and ${T}_{0}=0.48$ K. We refine the $T\ensuremath{-}H$ phase diagram of ${\mathrm{CeRh}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ and demonstrate that ${T}_{0}(H)$ and ${T}_{\text{c}}(H)$ lines meet at ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{0}H\ensuremath{\approx}6$ T, well above ${H}^{*}$, implying no influence of phase I on the SC phase switching. A basic analysis with the Ginzburg-Landau theory indicates a weak competition between the two orders.

High Orbital‐Moment Cooper Pairs by Crystalline Symmetry Breaking

AbstractThe pairing structure of superconducting materials is regulated by the point group symmetries of the crystal. The spin‐singlet multiorbital superconductivity of materials with unusually low crystalline symmetry content can host even‐parity (s‐wave) Cooper pairs with high orbital moment. The lack of mirror and rotation symmetries makes pairing states with quintet orbital angular momentum symmetry‐allowed. A remarkable fingerprint of this type of pairing state is provided by a nontrivial superconducting phase texture in momentum space with π‐shifted domains and walls with anomalous phase winding. The pattern of the quintet pairing texture is shown to depend on the orientation of the orbital polarization and the strength of the mirror and/or rotation symmetry breaking terms. Such a momentum dependent phase makes Cooper pairs with net orbital component suited to design orbitronic Josephson effects. This study discusses how an intrinsic orbital dependent phase can set out anomalous Josephson couplings by employing superconducting leads with nonequivalent breaking of crystalline symmetry.