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Here we report a pressure-induced reemergence of superconductivity in recently discovered superconductor K2Mo3As3, which is the first experimental case observed in quasi-one-dimensional superconductors. We find that, after full suppression of the ambient-pressure superconducting (SC-I) state at 8.7 GPa, an intermediary non-superconducting state sets in and prevails to the pressure up to 18.2 GPa, however, above this pressure a new superconducting (SC-II) state appears unexpectedly. High pressure x-ray diffraction measurements demonstrate that the pressure-induced dramatic change of the lattice parameter c contributes mainly to the emergence of the SC-II state. Combined with the theioretical calculations on band strcture, our results suggest that the reemergemce of superconductivity is associated with the change of the complicated interplay among different orbital electrons, driven by the pressure-induced unisotropic change of the lattice.
Here we report the discovery of the first ternary molybdenum pnictide based superconductor K2Mo3As3. Polycrystalline samples were synthesized by the conventional solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals a quasi-one-dimensional hexagonal crystal structure with (Mo3As3)2- linear chains separated by K+ ions, similar as previously reported K2Cr3As3, with the space group of P-6m2 (No. 187) and the refined lattice parameters a = 10.145(5) {AA} and c = 4.453(8) {AA}. Electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements exhibit bulk superconductivity with the onset Tc at 10.4 K in K2Mo3As3 which is higher than the isostructural Cr-based superconductors. Being the same group VIB transition elements and with similar structural motifs, these Cr and Mo based superconductors may share some common underlying origins for the occurrence of superconductivity and need more investigations to uncover the electron pairing within a quasi-one-dimensional chain structure.
The superconducting state of the newly discovered superconductor K$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$ with a quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure ($T_{bf c}sim$ 6 K) has been investigated by using magnetization and muon-spin relaxation or rotation ($mu$SR) measurements. Our analysis of the temperature dependence of the superfluid density obtained from the transverse field (TF) $mu$SR measurements fit very well to an isotropic $s$-wave character for the superconducting gap. Furthermore a similarly good fit can also be obtained using a $d$-wave model with line nodes. Our zero-field $mu$SR measurements do reveal very weak evidence of the spontaneous appearance of an internal magnetic field near the transition temperature, which might indicate that the superconducting state is not conventional. This observation suggests that the electrons are paired via unconventional channels such as spin fluctuations, as proposed on the basis of theoretical models of K$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$. Furthermore, from our TF $mu$SR study the magnetic penetration depth $lambda_L$, superconducting carrier density $n_s$, and effective-mass enhancement $m^*$ have been estimated to be $lambda_L(0)$ = 454(4) nm, $n_s$ = 2.4$times$10$^{27}$ carriers/m$^3$, and $m^*$ = 1.75 $m_e$, respectively.
Long-range order in quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) arrays of superconducting nanowires is established via a dimensional crossover from a fluctuating 1D regime to a phase-coherent 3D ground state. If a homogeneous crystalline superconductor exhibits sufficiently high uniaxial anisotropy, a similar 1D$rightarrow$3D crossover has been predicted to occur, provided that single-particle hopping transverse to the 1D axis is absent in the normal state. Here we present magnetic penetration depth and electrical transport data in single crystals of q1D Tl$_2$Mo$_6$Se$_6$, which reveal a 1D$rightarrow$3D superconducting dimensional crossover. Both experimental techniques uncover multiple energy scales within the superconducting transition, which describe a sequence of fluctuating regimes. As the temperature is reduced below $T_{ons}=$~6.7~K, 1D pairing fluctuations are replaced by 1D phase slips below $T_psim$~5.9~K. These give way to 3D phase fluctuations below $T_{ab}=$~4.9~K, prior to dimensional crossover at $T_{x2}sim$~4.4~K. The electrical resistivity below $T_{ab}$ is quantitatively consistent with the establishment of phase coherence through gradual binding of Josephson vortex strings to form 3D loops. An anomalously low superfluid density persist down to $sim$3~K before rising steeply --- in agreement with a theoretical model for crossovers in q1D superconductors, and suggesting that a small population of unbound, weakly-pinned vortices survives below the crossover. The observation of a dimensional crossover within the superconducting state has important consequences for the low-temperature normal state in Tl$_2$Mo$_6$Se$_6$ and similar q1D metals, which may exhibit one-dimensional behavior over far greater temperature ranges than band structure calculations suggest.
A well-established way to find novel Majorana particles in a solid-state system is to have superconductivity arising from the topological electronic structure. To this end, the heterostructure systems that consist of normal superconductor and topological material have been actively explored in the past decade. However, a search for the single material system that simultaneously exhibits intrinsic superconductivity and topological phase has been largely limited, although such a system is far more favorable especially for the quantum device applications. Here, we report the electronic structure study of a quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) superconductor TaSe$_3$. Our results of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculation clearly show that TaSe$_3$ is a topological superconductor. The characteristic bulk inversion gap, in-gap state and its shape of non-Dirac dispersion concurrently point to the topologically nontrivial nature of this material. The further investigations of the Z$_2$ indices and the topologically distinctive surface band crossings disclose that it belongs to the weak topological insulator (WTI) class. Hereby, TaSe$_3$ becomes the first verified example of an intrinsic 1D topological superconductor. It hopefully provides a promising platform for future applications utilizing Majorana bound states localized at the end of 1D intrinsic topological superconductors.
Following the discovery of superconductivity in quasi-one-dimensional K$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$ containing [(Cr$_3$As$_3$)$^{2-}$]$_{infty}$ chains [J. K. Bao et al., arXiv: 1412.0067 (2014)], we succeeded in synthesizing an analogous compound, Rb$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$, which also crystallizes in a hexagonal lattice. The replacement of K by Rb results in an expansion of $a$ axis by 3%, indicating a weaker interchain coupling in Rb$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$. Bulk superconductivity emerges at 4.8 K, above which the normal-state resistivity shows a linear temperature dependence up to 35 K. The estimated upper critical field at zero temperature exceeds the Pauli paramagnetic limit by a factor of two. Furthermore, the electronic specific-heat coefficient extrapolated to zero temperature in the mixed state increases with $sqrt{H}$, suggesting existence of nodes in the superconducting energy gap. Hence Rb$_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$ manifests itself as another example of unconventional superconductor in the Cr$_3$As$_3$-chain based system.