A new superconductor derived from topological insulator heterostructure

Abstract

Topological superconductors (TSCs) are of significant current interest because they offer promising platforms for finding Majorana fermions. Here we report a new superconductor synthesized by intercalating Cu into a naturally-formed topological insulator (TI) heterostructure consisting of Bi2Se3 TI units separated by nontopological PbSe units. For the first time in a TI-based superconductor, the specific-heat behavior of this material suggests the occurrence of unconventional superconductivity with gap nodes. The existence of gap nodes in a strongly spin-orbit coupled superconductor would give rise to spin-split Andreev bound states that are the hallmark of topological superconductivity. Hence, this new superconductor emerges as an intriguing candidate TSC.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures (paper proper) + 5 pages, 7 figures (supplemental material)

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Cited by in corpus (32)

• Topological superconductors: a review
• Colloquium: Topological Band Theory
• Topological Crystalline Insulators and Topological Superconductors: From Concepts to Materials
• Topological surface states in nodal superconductors
• Odd-parity superconductors with two-component order parameters: nematic and chiral, full gap and Majorana node
• Nematic superconductivity in doped Bi2Se3 topological superconductors
• Superconductivity in Tl_{0.6}Bi_{2}Te_{3} Derived from a Topological Insulator
• Superconductivity in doped Dirac semimetals
• Exploring Topological Superconductivity in Topological Materials
• Generalized Anderson's theorem for superconductors derived from topological insulators
• Superconducting doped topological materials
• Time-reversal symmetry breaking and multigap superconductivity in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La${}_7$Ni${}_3$
• Topological states and phase transitions in Sb${}_2$Te${}_3$-GeTe multilayers
• Nematic Superconductivity in Cu1.5(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6
• Observation of Two-Dimensional Bulk Electronic States in a Superconducting Topological Insulator Heterostructure Cux(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6: Implications for Unconventional Superconductivity
• Nano-mosaic of Topological Dirac States on the Surface of Pb5Bi24Se41 Observed by Nano-ARPES
• Classifying induced superconductivity in atomically thin Dirac-cone materials
• Helical Majorana surface states of strongly disordered topological superconductors with time-reversal symmetry
• Geometry-induced topological superconductivity
• Fermiology of possible topological superconductor Tl0.5Bi2Te3 derived from hole-doped topological insulator
• Superconductivity and Quantum Oscillations in Single Crystals of the Compensated Semimetal CaSb${}_2$
• Superconductivity by alloying the topological insulator SnBi2Te4
• Low-temperature environments for quantum computation and quantum simulation
• Time-reversal-symmetry Breaking in the Superconducting State of ScS
• A topological phase buried in a chalcogenide superlattice monitored by a helicity dependent Kerr measurement
• Surface chiral superconductivity in odd-parity nematic superconductors with magnetic impurities
• Unconventional superconductivity from electronic dipole fluctuations
• Possible Topological Superconductivity in a Topological Crystalline Insulator (Pb${}_{1-x}$Sn${}_x$)${}_{1-y}$In${}_y$Te
• Growth and hydrostatic-pressure study of a type-II superconductor Bi${}_2$Ta${}_3$S${}_6$ single crystal
• Theory of low-energy behaviors in topological $s$-wave pairing superconductors
• Sensitivity of superconducting states to the impurity location in layered materials
• Quasiparticle interference on the surface of Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ terminated (PbSe)${}_5$(Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$)${}_6$