Kinetic approach to superconductivity hidden behind a competing order

Abstract

Exploration for superconductivity is one of the research frontiers in condensed matter physics. In strongly correlated electron systems, the emergence of superconductivity is often inhibited by the formation of a thermodynamically more stable magnetic/charge order. Thus, to develop the superconductivity as the thermodynamically most stable state, the free-energy balance between the superconductivity and the competing order has been controlled mainly by changing thermodynamic parameters, such as the physical/chemical pressure and carrier density. However, such a thermodynamic approach may not be the only way to materialize the superconductivity. Here, we present a new kinetic approach to avoiding the competing order and thereby inducing persistent superconductivity. In the transition-metal dichalcogenide IrTe2 as an example, by utilizing current-pulse-based rapid cooling up to 10^7 K/s, we successfully kinetically avoid a first-order phase transition to a competing charge order and uncover metastable superconductivity hidden behind. Because the electronic states at low temperatures depend on the history of thermal quenching, electric pulse applications enable non-volatile and reversible switching of the metastable superconductivity, a unique advantage of the kinetic approach. Thus, our findings provide a new approach to developing and manipulating superconductivity beyond the framework of thermodynamics.

arXiv comment21 pages

References in corpus (13)

• Electric Field Control of the LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ Interface Ground State
• Theory of Intertwined Orders in High Temperature Superconductors
• The Unexpected Properties of Alkali Metal Iron Selenide Superconductors
• Topological stability versus thermal agitation in a metastable magnetic skyrmion lattice
• Laser-Induced Skyrmion Writing and Erasing in an Ultrafast Cryo-Lorentz Transmission Electron Microscopy
• Superconductivity Induced by Bond Breaking in the Triangular Lattice of IrTe2
• Superconductivity in Cu${}_x$IrTe${}_2$ induced by interlayer hybridization
• Quenching of charge and spin degrees of freedom in condensed matter
• Phase-change memory function of correlated electrons in organic conductors
• Dimerization-Induced Fermi-Surface Reconstruction in IrTe2
• Nanoscale Superconducting Honeycomb Charge Order in IrTe2
• Competing magnetic orders in the superconducting state of Nd-doped CeRhIn${}_5$ under pressure
• Size effects on supercooling phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems: IrTe${}_2$ and $\theta$-(BEDT-TTF)${}_2$RbZn(SCN)${}_4$

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Observation of a uniaxial strain-induced phase transition in the 2D topological semimetal IrTe${}_2$
• Superconductivity emerging from a stripe charge order in IrTe2 nanoflakes
• Examining the surface phase diagram of IrTe${}_2$ with photoemission
• Low-temperature hysteresis broadening emerging from domain-wall creep dynamics in a two-phase competing system
• Dimensional crossover of charge order in IrTe${}_2$ with strong interlayer coupling
• Reconsidering the nonlinear emergent inductance: time-varying Joule heating and its impact on the AC electrical response
• Real-space observation of emergent complexity of phase evolution in micrometer-sized IrTe${}_2$ crystals
• Erasable superconductivity in topological insulator Bi2Se3 induced by voltage pulse
• The structure of the superconducting high-pressure phase of Sc${}_3$CoC${}_4$
• Evidence for a soft-phonon-mode-driven Peierls-type distortion in Sc${}_3$CoC${}_4$
• Dynamic control of ferroic domain patterns by thermal quenching
• Insensitivity of the striped charge-orders in IrTe${}_2$ to alkali surface doping implies their structural origin