Conventional Superconductivity in Type II Dirac Semimetal PdTe${}_2$

Abstract

The transition metal dichalcogenide PdTe${}_2$ was recently shown to be a unique system where a type II Dirac semimetallic phase and a superconducting phase co-exist. This observation has led to wide speculation on the possibility of the emergence of an unconventional topological superconducting phase in PdTe${}_2$. Here, through direct measurement of the superconducting energy gap by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), and temperature and magnetic field evolution of the same, we show that the superconducting phase in PdTe${}_2$ is conventional in nature. The superconducting energy gap is measured to be 326 $\mu$eV at 0.38 K and it follows a temperature dependence that is well described within the framework of Bardeen-Cooper-Schriefer's (BCS) theory of conventional superconductivity. This is surprising because our quantum oscillation measurements confirm that at least one of the bands participating in transport has topologically non-trivial character.

Accepted for publication in Physical Review B

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Magnetic textures and dynamics in magnetic Weyl semimetals
• Photocatalytic Properties of Anisotropic $\beta$-PtX${}_2$ (X= S, Se) and Janus $\beta$-PtSSe monolayers
• Type-I superconductivity in PdTe${}_2$ probed by $\mu$SR
• Experimental Progress on Layered Topological Semimetals
• Single full gap with mixed type-I and type-II superconductivity on surface of the type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe2 by point-contact spectroscopy
• Dominant $s$-wave superconducting gap in PdTe${}_2$ observed by tunneling spectroscopy on side-junctions
• Anomalous charge transport of superconducting Cu${}_x$PdTe${}_2$ under high pressure
• Superconducting and structural properties of the type-I superconductor PdTe2 under high pressure
• Heat capacity of type I superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal PdTe${}_2$
• Scattering rate collapse driven by a van Hove singularity in the Dirac semi-metal PdTe${}_2$
• Disorder induced transition from type-I to type-II superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal PdTe${}_2$