Unconventional superconductivity in chiral molecule-TaS2 hybrid superlattices

. 2024 Aug ; 632 (8023) : 69-74. [epub] 20240626

Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE Jazyk angličtina Země Velká Británie, Anglie Médium print-electronic

Typ dokumentu časopisecké články

Perzistentní odkaz   https://www.medvik.cz/link/pmid38926586
Odkazy

PubMed 38926586
DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07625-4
PII: 10.1038/s41586-024-07625-4
Knihovny.cz E-zdroje

Chiral superconductors, a unique class of unconventional superconductors in which the complex superconducting order parameter winds clockwise or anticlockwise in the momentum space1, represent a topologically non-trivial system with intrinsic time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) and direct implications for topological quantum computing2,3. Intrinsic chiral superconductors are extremely rare, with only a few arguable examples, including UTe2, UPt3 and Sr2RuO4 (refs. 4-7). It has been suggested that chiral superconductivity may exist in non-centrosymmetric superconductors8,9, although such non-centrosymmetry is uncommon in typical solid-state superconductors. Alternatively, chiral molecules with neither mirror nor inversion symmetry have been widely investigated. We suggest that an incorporation of chiral molecules into conventional superconductor lattices could introduce non-centrosymmetry and help realize chiral superconductivity10. Here we explore unconventional superconductivity in chiral molecule intercalated TaS2 hybrid superlattices. Our studies reveal an exceptionally large in-plane upper critical field Bc2,|| well beyond the Pauli paramagnetic limit, a robust π-phase shift in Little-Parks measurements and a field-free superconducting diode effect (SDE). These experimental signatures of unconventional superconductivity suggest that the intriguing interplay between crystalline atomic layers and the self-assembled chiral molecular layers may lead to exotic topological materials. Our study highlights that the hybrid superlattices could lay a versatile path to artificial quantum materials by combining a vast library of layered crystals of rich physical properties with the nearly infinite variations of molecules of designable structural motifs and functional groups11.

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