Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Enhancing superconductivity through material design is a central goal in quantum materials research. Moiré engineering, where twisting stacked layers creates long-wavelength modulations and flat bands, amplifies electronic correlations and raises the superconducting critical temperature T c , but is largely confined to van der Waals materials with limited tunability. Here we explore an alternative: imposing artificial superpotentials on homogeneous systems to engineer flat minibands. We show that a periodic superpotential in a two-dimensional system enhances superconductivity by reconstructing electronic bands and creating regions of large density of states, substantially increasing T c . Unlike conventional flat-band systems, where superfluid stiffness arises solely from quantum geometry, a modulated system also inherits kinetic energy from filled minibands below the Fermi level, coexisting with a positive quantum geometric contribution to yield finite, robust stiffness. The resulting state remains resilient against weak to moderate disorder. These findings establish superlattice engineering as a tunable route to enhanced superconductivity beyond twist-based moiré systems, and a promising platform for next-generation superconductors.
Source: Communications Physics
Authors: Thilo Bauch, Floriana Lombardi, Goetz Seibold
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,990
Awards: G3030346416, G3419743456, G3653986736, Revealing strongly entangled quantum matter in High-Tc superconductor devices, Quantum Fluctuations and Entanglement in High-Tc Superconductors, Exploring the phase diagram of High Temperature Superconductors with nanoscale devices, G712881263, Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to study changes in the HTS phase diagram induced by strain and confinement, G9000849308
OpenAlex ID: W7216109382