Unconventional Superconductivity Research Articles

A microscopic Kondo lattice model for the heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeIn3

Electrons at the border of localization generate exotic states of matter across all classes of strongly correlated electron materials and many other quantum materials with emergent functionality. Heavy electron metals are a model example, in which magnetic interactions arise from the opposing limits of localized and itinerant electrons. This remarkable duality is intimately related to the emergence of a plethora of novel quantum matter states such as unconventional superconductivity, electronic-nematic states, hidden order and most recently topological states of matter such as topological Kondo insulators and Kondo semimetals and putative chiral superconductors. The outstanding challenge is that the archetypal Kondo lattice model that captures the underlying electronic dichotomy is notoriously difficult to solve for real materials. Here we show, using the prototypical strongly-correlated antiferromagnet CeIn3, that a multi-orbital periodic Anderson model embedded with input from ab initio bandstructure calculations can be reduced to a simple Kondo-Heisenberg model, which captures the magnetic interactions quantitatively. We validate this tractable Hamiltonian via high-resolution neutron spectroscopy that reproduces accurately the magnetic soft modes in CeIn3, which are believed to mediate unconventional superconductivity. Our study paves the way for a quantitative understanding of metallic quantum states such as unconventional superconductivity.

Phase-Modulated Elastic Properties of 2D Magnetic FeTe: Hexagonal and Tetragonal Polymorphs.

2D layered magnets, such as iron chalcogenides, have emerged these years as a new family of unconventional superconductors and provided the key insights to understand the phonon-electron interaction and pairing mechanism. Their mechanical properties are of strategic importance for the potential applications in spintronics and optoelectronics. However, there is still a lack of efficient approach to tune the elastic modulus despite the extensive studies. Herein, the modulated elastic modulus of 2D magnetic FeTe and its thickness-dependence is reported via phase engineering. The grown 2D FeTe by chemical vapor deposition can present various polymorphs, that is tetragonal FeTe (t-FeTe, antiferromagnetic) and hexagonal FeTe (h-FeTe, ferromagnetic). The measured Young's modulus of t-FeTe by nanoindentation method shows an obvious thickness-dependence, from 290.9±9.2 to 113.0±8.7 GPa when the thicknesses increased from 13.2 to 42.5 nm, respectively. In comparison, the elastic modulus of h-FeTe remains unchanged. These results can shed light on the efficient modulation of mechanical properties of 2D magnetic materials and pave the avenues for their practical applications in nanodevices.

Experimental Progress in Superconducting Nickelates

The superconducting nickelates were first proposed as potential analogs to the cuprate unconventional superconductors in 1999, but it took twenty years before superconductivity was successfully stabilized in epitaxial thin films. Since then, a flurry of both experimental and theoretical efforts have sought to understand the similarities and differences between the two systems and how they manifest in the macroscopic superconducting and normal state properties. Although the nickelates and cuprates indeed share many commonalities within their respective phase diagrams, several notable differences have also emerged, especially regarding their parent compounds, electronic hybridization, and fermiology. Here, we provide a survey of the rapidly developing landscape of layered nickelate superconductors, including recent experimental progress to probe not just the superconducting but also normal state and other ordered phases stabilized in these compounds.

Dichotomy of heavy and light pairs of holes in the t−J model

A key step in unraveling the mysteries of materials exhibiting unconventional superconductivity is to understand the underlying pairing mechanism. While it is widely agreed upon that the pairing glue in many of these systems originates from antiferromagnetic spin correlations, a microscopic description of pairs of charge carriers remains lacking. Here we use state-of-the art numerical methods to probe the internal structure and dynamical properties of pairs of charge carriers in quantum antiferromagnets in four-legged cylinders. Exploiting the full momentum resolution in our simulations, we are able to distinguish two qualitatively different types of bound states: a highly mobile, meta-stable pair, which has a dispersion proportional to the hole hopping t, and a heavy pair, which can only move due to spin exchange processes and turns into a flat band in the Ising limit of the model. Understanding the pairing mechanism can on the one hand pave the way to boosting binding energies in related models, and on the other hand enable insights into the intricate competition of various phases of matter in strongly correlated electron systems.

Recent progress in NMR studies on unconventional superconductors

Recent progress in NMR studies on unconventional superconductors

Ground State and Its Topological Properties of Three-Dimensional Spin-Orbit Coupled Degenerate Fermi Gases

Three-dimensional (3D) degenerate Fermi gases in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, inducing various kinds of physical findings and phenomena, have attracted tremendous attention in these years. We investigate the 3D spin-orbit coupled degenerate Fermi gases in theory and first present the analytic expression of their ground state. Our study provides an innovative perspective into understanding of the topological properties of 3D unconventional superconductors, and describes the topological phase transitions in trivial and topological phase areas. Further, such a system is provided with a richer set of Cooper pairings than traditional superconductors. The dual Cooper pairs with same spin directions emerge and exhibit peculiar behaviors, leading to topological phase transitions. Our study and discussion can be generalized to some other types of unconventional superconductors and areas of optical lattices.

Pair density wave and superconductivity in a kinetically frustrated doped Emery model on a square lattice

The quest to understand the nature of superconductivity in the cuprates has spotlighted the pair density wave (PDW)–a superconducting state characterized by a spatially modulated order parameter. Despite significant advances in understanding PDW properties, conclusively demonstrating its presence in systems pertinent to cuprate superconductors remains elusive. In this study, we present a systematic density-matrix renormalization group study to investigate the Emery model (or the three-band Hubbard model) on two-leg square cylinders with negative electron hopping term tpp between adjacent oxygen sites. Kinetic frustration - introduced by changing the sign of oxygen-oxygen hopping - leads to a much reduced Cu-Cu antiferromagnetic exchange along with an enlarged charge transfer energy that changes the local properties of the model. At light doping levels, our findings reveal a ground state remarkably consistent with a PDW, exhibiting mutually commensurate superconducting (SC), charge, and spin density wave correlations. Intriguingly, the dominant SC pairing is observed between neighboring oxygen sites, diverging from the expected Cu sites in the positive tpp case. When the system incorporates moderate near-neighbor interactions, particularly an attractive Vpp between adjacent oxygen sites, the SC correlations become quasi-long-ranged, accompanied by a pronounced divergence in the PDW susceptibility. When the attractive Vpp increases further, the system gives way to an unconventional d-wave superconductivity.

Topological magnetic line defects in Fe(Te, Se) high-temperature superconductors

The realization of Majorana zero modes in condensed matter have been attracting enormous interests from fundamental science such as topological quantum computation. Recently iron based superconductors were identified as a high-temperature platform for realizing topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. As unconventional superconductors, one of the most important characteristics of them is that they are in the vicinity of magnetic states due to the strong Hund’s coupling in iron atoms. Here we propose that the line defects with missing Te/Se anions in Fe(Se, Te) superconductors provide the realization of intrinsic antiferromagnetic (AFM) chains with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Against conventional wisdom, Majorana zero modes (MZMs) can be robustly generated at these AFM chain ends. These results can consistently explain the recent experimental observation of zero-energy end states in line defects of monolayer Fe(Te, Se)/SrTiO3 by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements. Our research not only demonstrates an unprecedented interplay among native line defect, emergent magnetism and topological superconductivity but also explores a high-temperature platform for Majorana fermions.

Possible strain-induced enhancement of the superconducting onset transition temperature in infinite-layer nickelates

The mechanism of unconventional superconductivity in correlated materials remains a great challenge in condensed matter physics. The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates, as an analog to high-Tc cuprates, has opened a new route to tackle this challenge. By growing 8 nm Pr0.8Sr0.2NiO2 films on the (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 substrate, we successfully raise the superconducting onset transition temperature Tc in the widely studied SrTiO3-substrated nickelates from 9 K into 15 K, which indicates compressive strain is an efficient protocol to further enhance superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates. Additionally, the x-ray absorption spectroscopy, combined with the first-principles and many-body simulations, suggest a crucial role of the hybridization between Ni and O orbitals in the unconventional pairing. These results also suggest the increase of Tc be driven by the change of charge-transfer nature that would narrow the origin of general unconventional superconductivity in correlated materials to the covalence of transition metals and ligands.

Rotational symmetry breaking in superconducting nickelate Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 films

The infinite-layer nickelates, isostructural to the high-Tc cuprate superconductors, have emerged as a promising platform to host unconventional superconductivity and stimulated growing interest in the condensed matter community. Despite considerable attention, the superconducting pairing symmetry of the nickelate superconductors, the fundamental characteristic of a superconducting state, is still under debate. Moreover, the strong electronic correlation in the nickelates may give rise to a rich phase diagram, where the underlying interplay between the superconductivity and other emerging quantum states with broken symmetry is awaiting exploration. Here, we study the angular dependence of the transport properties of the infinite-layer nickelate Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 superconducting films with Corbino-disk configuration. The azimuthal angular dependence of the magnetoresistance (R(φ)) manifests the rotational symmetry breaking from isotropy to four-fold (C4) anisotropy with increasing magnetic field, revealing a symmetry-breaking phase transition. Approaching the low-temperature and large-magnetic-field regime, an additional two-fold (C2) symmetric component in the R(φ) curves and an anomalous upturn of the temperature-dependent critical field are observed simultaneously, suggesting the emergence of an exotic electronic phase. Our work uncovers the evolution of the quantum states with different rotational symmetries in nickelate superconductors and provides deep insight into their global phase diagram.

Pseudogap behavior in charge density wave kagome material ScV6Sn6 revealed by magnetotransport measurements

Over the last few years, significant attention has been devoted to studying the kagome materials A V3Sb5 (A = K, Rb, Cs) due to their unconventional superconductivity and charge density wave (CDW) ordering. Recently {{{{rm{ScV}}}}}_{6}{{{{rm{Sn}}}}}_{6} was found to host a CDW below ≈ 90 K, and, like A V3Sb5, it contains a kagome lattice comprised only of V ions. Here we present a comprehensive magnetotransport study on {{{{rm{ScV}}}}}_{6}{{{{rm{Sn}}}}}_{6}. We discovered several anomalous transport phenomena above the CDW ordering temperature, including insulating behavior in interlayer resistivity, a strongly temperature-dependent Hall coefficient, and a violation of Kohler’s rule. All these anomalies can be consistently explained by a progressive decrease in carrier densities with decreasing temperature, suggesting the formation of a pseudogap. Our findings suggest that high-temperature CDW fluctuations play a significant role in determining the normal state electronic properties of {{{{rm{ScV}}}}}_{6}{{{{rm{Sn}}}}}_{6}.

Detection of collective modes in unconventional superconductors using tunneling spectroscopy

Detection of collective modes in unconventional superconductors using tunneling spectroscopy

Distinct spin and orbital dynamics in Sr2RuO4

The unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 has long served as a benchmark for theories of correlated-electron materials. The determination of the superconducting pairing mechanism requires detailed experimental information on collective bosonic excitations as potential mediators of Cooper pairing. We have used Ru L3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to obtain comprehensive maps of the electronic excitations of Sr2RuO4 over the entire Brillouin zone. We observe multiple branches of dispersive spin and orbital excitations associated with distinctly different energy scales. The spin and orbital dynamical response functions calculated within the dynamical mean-field theory are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Our results highlight the Hund metal nature of Sr2RuO4 and provide key information for the understanding of its unconventional superconductivity.

Evidence for ground state coherence in a two-dimensional Kondo lattice

Kondo lattices are ideal testbeds for the exploration of heavy-fermion quantum phases of matter. While our understanding of Kondo lattices has traditionally relied on complex bulk f-electron systems, transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers have recently emerged as simple, accessible and tunable 2D Kondo lattice platforms where, however, their ground state remains to be established. Here we present evidence of a coherent ground state in the 1T/1H-TaSe2 heterobilayer by means of scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy at 340 mK. Our measurements reveal the existence of two symmetric electronic resonances around the Fermi energy, a hallmark of coherence in the spin lattice. Spectroscopic imaging locates both resonances at the central Ta atom of the charge density wave of the 1T phase, where the localized magnetic moment is held. Furthermore, the evolution of the electronic structure with the magnetic field reveals a non-linear increase of the energy separation between the electronic resonances. Aided by ab initio and auxiliary-fermion mean-field calculations, we demonstrate that this behavior is inconsistent with a fully screened Kondo lattice, and suggests a ground state with magnetic order mediated by conduction electrons. The manifestation of magnetic coherence in TMD-based 2D Kondo lattices enables the exploration of magnetic quantum criticality, Kondo breakdown transitions and unconventional superconductivity in the strict two-dimensional limit.

Jahn–Teller Magnets

A wide class of materials with different crystal and electronic structures including quasi-2D unconventional superconductors, such as cuprates, nickelates, ferropnictides/chalcogenides, ruthenate Sr2RuO4, and 3D systems, such as manganites RMnO3, ferrates (CaSr)FeO3, nickelates RNiO3, silver oxide AgO, are based on Jahn–Teller 3d and 4d ions. These unusual materials, called Jahn–Teller (JT) magnets, are characterized by an extremely rich variety of phase states, spanning from non-magnetic and magnetic insulators to unusual metallic and superconducting states. The unconventional properties of JT magnets can be attributed to the instability of their highly symmetric Jahn–Teller “progenitors” with the ground orbital E-state with repect to charge transfer, anti-Jahn–Teller d-d disproportionation, and the formation of a system of effective local composite spin–singlet or spin–triplet, electronic, or hole S-type bosons moving in a non-magnetic or magnetic lattice. We consider specific features of the anti-JT-disproportionation reaction, properties of the electron–hole dimers, possible phase states and effective Hamiltonians for single- and two-band JT magnets, concluding with a short overview of physical properties for actual JT magnets.

Evidence of unconventional superconductivity on the surface of the nodal semimetal CaAg1−xPdxP

Surface states of topological materials provide extreme electronic states for unconventional superconducting states. CaAg1−xPdxP is an ideal candidate for a nodal-line Dirac semimetal with drumhead surface states and no additional bulk bands. Here, we report that CaAg1−xPdxP has surface states that exhibit unconventional superconductivity (SC) around 1.5 K. Extremely sharp magnetoresistance, tuned by surface-sensitive gating, determines the surface origin of the ultrahigh-mobility “electrons.” The Pd-doping elevates the Fermi level towards the surface states, and as a result, the critical temperature (Tc) is increased up to 1.7 K from 1.2 K for undoped CaAgP. Furthermore, a soft point-contact study at the surface of Pd-doped CaAgP proved the emergence of unconventional SC on the surface. We observed the bell-shaped conductance spectra, a hallmark of the unconventional SC. Ultrahigh mobility carriers derived from the surface flat bands generate a new class of unconventional SC.

In Situ Twistronics: A New Platform Based on Superlubricity.

Twistronics, an emerging field focused on exploring the unique electrical properties induced by twist interface in graphene multilayers, has garnered significant attention in recent years. The general manipulation of twist angle depends on the assembly of van der Waals (vdW) layered materials, which has led to the discovery of unconventional superconductivity, ferroelectricity, and nonlinear optics, thereby expanding the realm of twistronics. Recently, in situ tuning of interlayer conductivity in vdW layered materials has been achieved based on scanning probe microscope. In this Perspective, the advancements in in situ twistronics are focused on by reviewing the state-of-the-art in situ manipulating technology, discussing the underlying mechanism based on the concept of structural superlubricity, and exploiting the real-time twistronic tests under scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is shown that the real-time manipulation under SEM allows for visualizing and monitoring the interface status during in situ twistronic testing. By harnessing the unique tribological properties of vdW layered materials, this novel platform not only enhances the fabrication of twistronic devices but also facilitates the fundamental understanding of interface phenomena in vdW layered materials. Moreover, this platform holds great promise for the application of twistronic-mechanical systems, providing avenues for the integration of twistronics into various mechanical frameworks.

Exact continuum representation of long-range interacting systems and emerging exotic phases in unconventional superconductors

Exact continuum representation of long-range interacting systems and emerging exotic phases in unconventional superconductors

Unconventional superconductivity protected from disorder on the kagome lattice

Unconventional superconductivity protected from disorder on the kagome lattice

Phonon mixing in the charge density wave state of ScV6Sn6

Kagomé metals are widely recognized, versatile platforms for exploring topological properties, unconventional electronic correlations, magnetic frustration, and superconductivity. In the RV6Sn6 family of materials (R = Sc, Y, Lu), ScV6Sn6 hosts an unusual charge density wave ground state as well as structural similarities with the AV3Sb5 system (A = K, Cs, Rb). In this work, we combine Raman scattering spectroscopy with first-principles lattice dynamics calculations to reveal phonon mixing processes in the charge density wave state of ScV6Sn6. In the low temperature phase, we find at least four new peaks in the vicinity of the V-containing totally symmetric mode near 240 cm−1 suggesting that the density wave acts to mix modes of P6/mmm and Rbar{3}m symmetry - a result that we quantify by projecting phonons of the high symmetry state onto those of the lower symmetry structure. We also test the stability of the short-range ordered density wave state under compression and propose that both physical and chemical pressure quench the effect. We discuss these findings in terms of symmetry and the structure-property trends that can be unraveled in this system.