Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Topological superconductivity is a promising concept for generating fault-tolerant qubits. Early experimental studies looked at hybrid systems and doped intrinsic topological or superconducting materials at very low temperatures. However, higher critical temperatures are indispensable for technological exploitation. Recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy results have revealed that superconductivity in the type-I Weyl semimetal—trigonal PtBi 2 (t-PtBi 2 )—is located at the Fermi-arc surface states, which renders the material a potential candidate for intrinsic topological superconductivity. Here we show, using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, that t-PtBi 2 presents surface superconductivity at elevated temperatures (5 K). The gap magnitude is elusive: it is spatially inhomogeneous and spans from 0 to 20 meV. In particular, the large gap value and the shape of the quasiparticle excitation spectrum resemble the phenomenology of high-T c superconductors. To our knowledge, this is the largest superconducting gap so far measured in a topological material. Moreover, we show that the superconducting state at 5 K persists in magnetic fields up to 12 T.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: University of Wuppertal, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Balseiro Institute, Bariloche Atomic Centre, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Bar-Ilan University, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter, Technische Universität Dresden
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,416
Awards: Korrelationsinduzierte exotische Grundzustände in neuartigen Sulfiden, G1637134415, G2152757567, Chirale Supraleitung in der vanderWaalsHeterostruktur, G3109877626, Weyl und Dirac Halbmetalle und andere perspektiven topologischen Halbmetalle synthesis Charakterisierung neuer Halbmetalle, Imaging phase transitions in quantum materials, G416398754, G419443931, G434337789, 30mKUltrahochvakuumRastertunnelmikroskop mit rotierbarem Magnetfeldvektor, SpinGitterKopplung in magnetischen 2D van der Waals und topologischen Materialien
OpenAlex ID: W4404429737