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Pressure-induced superconductivity in topological heterostructure (PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6

拓扑异质结(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6高压诱导超导电性研究

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Abstract

Recently, the natural heterostructure of (PbSe)5-(Bi2Se3)6 has been theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed as a topological insulator. In this work, we induce superconductivity in (PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6 by implementing high pressures. As the pressure increases up to 10 GPa, superconductivity with a critical temperature (Tc) ~ 4.6 K suddenly appears, which is followed by an abrupt decrease. Remarkably, upon further compression above 30 GPa, a new superconducting state arises, where pressure raises the Tc to an unsaturated 6.0 K within the limit of our research. Combining X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, we suggest that the emergence of the two distinct superconducting states occurs concurrently with the pressure-induced structural transition in this topological heterostructure (PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6.

摘要

最近, 天然异质结(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6在理论上预测并实验证实为拓扑绝缘体. 本文通过高压原位量子调控在(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6中成功引入超导电性. 当压力增加到10 GPa时, 超导电性突然出现, Tc约为4.6 K, 随后Tc急剧下降. 值得注意的是, 当进一步施加压力到30 GPa以上时, 出现了一种新的超导态, 且Tc直到本实验最高压力仍未饱和. 结合XRD和拉曼光谱, 我们认为(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6中两个超导态的出现与压力诱导的结构相变有关. 拓扑异质结压力下出现新的量子态, 为进一步研究拓扑和超导的关系提供了一个良好的平台.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12004252, 52272265, U1932217, 11974246, 52072400, 52025025, and 92065109), the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFA0704300, 2021YFA1401800, 2018YFE0202601, 2020YFA0308800, and 2022YFA1403400), Shanghai Science and Technology Plan (21DZ2260400), and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Z190010, Z210006, and Z190006). We thank the support from the Analytical Instrumentation Center (# SPST-AIC10112914), School of Physical Science and Technology (SPST), ShanghaiTech University, and the staffs from BL15U1 at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility for assistance during data collection. We also thank Prof. Yanming Ma for the valuable discussion.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China

    Cuiying Pei  (裴翠颖), Yi Zhao  (赵毅), Lingling Gao  (高玲玲), Changhua Li  (李昌华), Shihao Zhu  (朱世豪), Yulin Chen  (陈宇林) & Yanpeng Qi  (齐彦鹏)

  2. Centre for Quantum Physics, Key Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Quantum Architecture and Measurement (MOE), School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Peng Zhu  (朱鹏), Zhiwei Wang  (王秩伟) & Yugui Yao  (姚裕贵)

  3. Beijing Key Lab of Nanophotonics and Ultrafine Optoelectronic Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Peng Zhu  (朱鹏), Zhiwei Wang  (王秩伟) & Yugui Yao  (姚裕贵)

  4. Material Science Center, Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing, 314011, China

    Peng Zhu  (朱鹏) & Zhiwei Wang  (王秩伟)

  5. State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials and International Center for Computational Method and Software, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Bingtan Li  (李炳谈) & Hanyu Liu  (刘寒雨)

  6. International Center of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Bingtan Li  (李炳谈) & Hanyu Liu  (刘寒雨)

  7. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Qinghua Zhang  (张庆华), Tianping Ying  (应天平) & Lin Gu  (谷林)

  8. Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing, 100094, China

    Bo Gao  (高波) & Huiyang Gou  (缑慧阳)

  9. Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E2, Canada

    Yansun Yao  (姚延荪)

  10. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Jian Sun  (孙建)

  11. ShanghaiTech Laboratory for Topological Physics, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China

    Yulin Chen  (陈宇林) & Yanpeng Qi  (齐彦鹏)

  12. Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK

    Yulin Chen  (陈宇林)

  13. Shanghai Key Laboratory of High-resolution Electron Microscopy, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China

    Yanpeng Qi  (齐彦鹏)

Authors
  1. Cuiying Pei  (裴翠颖)
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  2. Peng Zhu  (朱鹏)
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Contributions

Author contributions Pei C and Qi Y carried out the project and wrote the original draft; Zhu P and Wang Z synthesized and characterized the samples; Zhang Q, Ying T, and Gu L performed the TEM studies; Pei C, Zhao Y, Gao L, Li C, Zhu S, Gao B, Gou H, and Qi Y performed the high-pressure experiments; Li B, Yao YS, Sun J, and Liu H carried out the theoretical calculations; Wang Z and Qi Y supervised the project; Chen Y and Yao YG contributed to the discussion. All authors contributed to the general discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhiwei Wang  (王秩伟) or Yanpeng Qi  (齐彦鹏).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary information Supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Cuiying Pei is a research assistant professor at the School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University. She obtained her PhD degree from Jilin University in 2014. Her current research interests are exploring novel quantum properties under high pressures.

Peng Zhu is currently a PhD student at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) supervised by Professor Zhiwei Wang. He obtained his Master’s degree from BIT in 2021. His research interests are in the fields of single crystal growth, characterization and physical properties of topological materials, especially in bulk-insulating topological insulators.

Zhiwei Wang is currently a professor at the School of Physics, BIT. He obtained his PhD degree from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2012. His research interests are single crystal growth, and physical properties of quantum materials, including topological materials, Kagome lattice, unconventional superconductors, and two-dimensional (2D) materials.

Yanpeng Qi is an assistant professor at the School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University. He obtained his PhD degree from the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. His current research interest focuses on the understanding of novel properties of quantum materials under high pressures, and the design and synthesis of new superconductors.

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Pei, C., Zhu, P., Li, B. et al. Pressure-induced superconductivity in topological heterostructure (PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6. Sci. China Mater. 66, 2822–2828 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2422-3

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