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Register a new userUnconventional superconductivity in CuxBi2Se3
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We report point contact measurements in high quality single crystals of Cu0.2Bi2Se3. We observe three different kinds of spectra: (1) Andreev-reflection spectra, from which we infer a superconducting gap size of 0.6mV; (2) spectra with a large gap which closes above Tc at about 10K; and (3) tunneling-like spectra with zero-bias conductance peaks. These tunneling spectra show a very large gap of ~2meV (2Delta/KTc ~ 14).
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Topological superconductors (TSCs) are correlated quantum states with simultaneous off-diagonal long-range order and nontrivial topological invariants. They produce gapless or zero energy boundary excitations, including Majorana zero modes and chiral Majorana edge states with topologically protected phase coherence essential for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Candidate TSCs are very rare in nature. Here, we propose a novel route toward emergent quasi-one-dimensional (1D) TSCs in naturally embedded quantum structures such as atomic line defects in unconventional spin-singlet $s$-wave and $d$-wave superconductors. We show that inversion symmetry breaking and charge transfer due to the missing atoms lead to the occupation of incipient impurity bands and mixed parity spin singlet and triplet Cooper pairing of neighboring electrons traversing the line defect. Nontrivial topological invariants arise and occupy a large part of the parameter space, including the time reversal symmetry breaking Zeeman coupling due to applied magnetic field or defect-induced magnetism, creating TSCs in different topological classes with robust Majorana zero modes at both ends of the line defect. Beyond providing a novel mechanism for the recent discovery of zero-energy bound states at both ends of an atomic line defect in monolayer Fe(Te,Se) superconductors, the findings pave the way for new material realizations of the simplest and most robust 1D TSCs using embedded quantum structures in unconventional superconductors with large pairing energy gaps and high transition temperatures.
We have measured the magnetic penetration depth of the recently discovered binary superconductor MgB_2 using muon spin rotation and low field $ac$-susceptibility. From the damping of the muon precession signal we find the penetration depth at zero temperature is about 85nm. The low temperature penetration depth shows a quadratic temperature dependence, indicating the presence of nodes in the superconducting energy gap.
The nature of unconventional superconductivity is intimately linked to the microscopic nature of the pairing interactions. In this work, motivated by cubic heavy fermion compounds with embedded multipolar moments, we theoretically investigate superconducting instabilities instigated by multipolar Kondo interactions. Employing multipolar fluctuations (mediated by RKKY interaction) coupled to conduction electrons via two-channel Kondo and novel multipolar Kondo interactions, we uncover a variety of superconducting states characterized by higher-angular momentum Cooper pairs, $J=0,1,2,3$. We demonstrate that both odd and even parity pairing functions are possible, regardless of the total angular momentum of the Cooper pairs, which can be traced back to the atypical nature of the multipolar Kondo interaction that intertwines conduction electron spin and orbital degrees of freedom. We determine that different (point-group) irrep classified pairing functions may coexist with each other, with some of them characterized by gapped and point node structures in their corresponding quasiparticle spectra. This work lays the foundation for discovery and classification of superconducting states in rare-earth metallic compounds with multipolar local moments.
Topological superconductivity, implying gapless protected surface states, has recently been proposed to exist in the compound CuxBi2Se3. Unfortunately, low diamagnetic shielding fractions and considerable inhomogeneity have been reported in this compound. In an attempt to understand and improve on the finite superconducting volume fractions, we have investigated the effects of various growth and post-annealing conditions. With a melt-growth (MG) method, diamagnetic shielding fractions of up to 56% in Cu0.3Bi2Se3 have been obtained, the highest value reported for this method. We investigate the efficacy of various quenching and annealing conditions, finding that quenching from temperatures above 560C is essential for superconductivity, whereas quenching from lower temperatures or not quenching at all is detrimental. A modified floating zone (FZ) method yielded large single crystals but little superconductivity. Even after annealing and quenching, FZ-grown samples had much less chance of being superconducting than MG-grown samples. From the low shielding fractions in FZ-grown samples and the quenching dependence, we suggest that a metastable secondary phase having a small volume fraction in most of the samples may be responsible for the superconductivity.
We present a novel route for attaining unconventional superconductivity (SC) in a strongly correlated system without doping. In a simple model of a correlated band insulator (BI) at half-filling we demonstrate, based on a generalization of the projected wavefunctions method, that SC emerges when e-e interactions and the bare band-gap are both much larger than the kinetic energy, provided the system has sufficient frustration against the magnetic order. As the interactions are tuned, SC appears sandwiched between the correlated BI followed by a paramagnetic metal on one side, and a ferrimagnetic metal, antiferromagnetic (AF) half-metal, and AF Mott insulator phases on the other side.
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