Unusual Resistive Transitions in the Nodal-Line Semimetallic Superconductor NaAlSi

Abstract

NaAlSi is a quasi-two-dimensional semimetal with superconductivity below Tc = 6.8 K and a band structure characterized by nodal lines near the Fermi level and potential topological surface states. Electrical resistivity measurements on its superconducting transitions in magnetic fields were made using plate-like single crystals. In the magnetic field-temperature phase diagram, we observed a substantial reduction in resistivity in a pre-transitional zone above the bulk superconducting regime only when the magnetic fields were perpendicular to the plane, rather than parallel to it. Significant sample (thickness) dependence, reentrant behavior, and sensitivity to electrode configurations all indicate that a portion of the crystal has an upper critical field greater than the bulk superconductivity in the pre-transitional region. This fractional superconductivity may occur on the side surface of the crystal.

References in corpus (3)

• Topological surface superconductivity in doped Weyl loop materials
• Low Carrier Density Metal Realized in Candidate Line-Node Dirac Semimetals CaAgP and CaAgAs
• Superconductivity in the Topological Nodal-line Semimetal NaAlSi

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• Broken time-reversal symmetry detected by tunneling spectroscopy of superconducting Pd-doped CaAgP
• Topological materials with extensive flat-band surface states