Interface-Induced Zeeman-Protected Superconductivity in Ultrathin Crystalline Lead Films

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) superconducting systems are of great importance for exploring exotic quantum physics. The recent development of fabrication techniques has stimulated studies of high-quality singlecrystalline 2D superconductors, where intrinsic properties give rise to unprecedented physical phenomena. Here, we report the observation of Zeeman-type spin-orbit interaction protected superconductivity (Zeeman-protected superconductivity) in 4-monolayer (ML) to 6-ML crystalline Pb films grown on striped incommensurate Pb layers on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. An anomalously large in-plane critical field far beyond the Pauli limit is detected, which can be attributed to the Zeeman-protected superconductivity due to the in-plane inversion symmetry breaking at the interface. Our work demonstrates that, in superconducting heterostructures, the interface can induce Zeeman-type spin-orbit interactions and modulate the superconductivity.

Type-II Ising Superconductivity in Two-Dimensional Materials with Spin-Orbit Coupling

“…Previous studies found that Rashba-type SOC in 2D noncentrosymmetric superconductors can create novel mixed singlet-triplet pairing and leads to a moderate enhancement of B c2 [12,13]. Very recently, a new kind of 2D noncentrosymmetric superconductivity, called Ising superconductivity, has been discovered in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. In these materials, the SOC generates Zeeman-like spin splittings for electrons near the K and K valleys.…”

Magnetic-field induced s+if pairing in Ising superconductors

“…The findings presented here are relevant for noncentrosymmetric superconductors, where the applied magnetic field has an orthogonal component to the effective SOC field. This applies to a large class of materials [20], which besides monolayer TMDs include interface superconductivity [21] and artificial heterostructures [22].…”

“…with the coefficients defined as (T, B) = 0, which is found in Refs. [5,18,21]. We plot B c (T ) in Fig.…”

Electrochemical Water Oxidation Catalyzed by an In Situ Generated α‐Co(OH)2 Film on Zeolite‐Y Surface

“…[1,2] To achieve an efficient water oxidation, it is necessary to developa ni nexpensivec atalystt hat can operate under ambient conditions with low overpotential in numerousc ycles withouta ny loss of catalytic activity.V arious research groups across the globe have been workingo nt he experimental and theoreticald esigna nd synthesis of homogeneous as well as heterogeneous water-oxidation catalysts (WOCs). [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Among these, ah eterogeneous electrocatalyst is of particulari nterest because it offers extra stability, and the relevant electrocatalytic method can directly be implemented into devices. [8][9][10][11][12] The known heterogeneous WOCs are metal oxides, including spinel oxides, monomeric, dimeric,a nd tetrameric molecular complexes, polyoxometalates (POMs) and POM-supported metal complexes,v arious nano-materials, electrodeposited metals from aqueous solutionso fm etal salts, amorphous metal-oxide thin-films, and metal-organic framework (MOF)-containing compounds.…”