Superconductivity in few-layer stanene
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics and Dept. of Physics
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics and Dept. of Physics; Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CICQM), Beijing (China)
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics and Dept. of Physics; Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CICQM), Beijing (China); RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Saitama (Japan)
- Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
A single atomic slice of α-tin—stanene—has been predicted to host the quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature, offering an ideal platform to study low-dimensional and topological physics. Although recent research has focused on monolayer stanene, the quantum size effect in few-layer stanene could profoundly change material properties, but remains unexplored. By exploring the layer degree of freedom, we discover superconductivity in few-layer stanene down to a bilayer grown on PbTe, while bulk α-tin is not superconductive. Through substrate engineering, we further realize a transition from a single-band to a two-band superconductor with a doubling of the transition temperature. In situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) together with first-principles calculations elucidate the corresponding band structure. The theory also indicates the existence of a topologically non-trivial band. Thus, our experimental findings open up novel strategies for constructing two-dimensional topological superconductors.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (China); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Beijing Innovation Center for Future Chip (ICFC); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Thousand-Young-Talents Program (China)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515; 2017YFA0304600; 2017YFA0302902; 11604176
- OSTI ID:
- 1438571
- Journal Information:
- Nature Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 4; ISSN 1745-2473
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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