Nanocalorimetric evidence for nematic superconductivity in the doped topological insulator
Abstract
Spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the superconducting state of doped Bi2Se3 has attracted significant attention as an indicator for topological superconductivity. In this paper, high-resolution calorimetry of the single-crystal Sr0.1Bi2Se3 provides unequivocal evidence of a twofold rotational symmetry in the superconducting gap by a bulk thermodynamic probe, a fingerprint of nematic superconductivity. The extremely small specific heat anomaly resolved with our high-sensitivity technique is consistent with the material's low carrier concentration proving bulk superconductivity. The large basal-plane anisotropy of H-c(2) (Gamma(exp) = 3.5) is attributed to a nematic phase of a two-component topological gap structure eta = (eta(1), eta(2)) and caused by a symmetry-breaking energy term delta (vertical bar eta(1)vertical bar(2) - vertical bar eta(2)vertical bar(2))T-c. A quantitative analysis of our data excludes more conventional sources of this twofold anisotropy and provides an estimate for the symmetry-breaking strength delta approximate to 0.1, a value that points to an onset transition of the second order parameter component below 2 K.
- Authors:
-
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.; Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.; Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1485254
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1482765; OSTI ID: 1490687
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-209668-2018-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012704; AC02-06CH11357
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review B
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 98; Journal Issue: 18; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; impurities in superconductors; nematic order; phase diagrams; superconducting gap; superconducting order parameter; superconducting phase transition; topological superconductors; low-temperature superconductors; calorimetry; Landau-Ginzburg theory; specific heat measurements
Citation Formats
Willa, Kristin, Willa, Roland, Song, Kok Wee, Gu, G. D., Schneeloch, John A., Zhong, Ruidan, Koshelev, Alexei E., Kwok, Wai-Kwong, and Welp, Ulrich. Nanocalorimetric evidence for nematic superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Sr0.1Bi2Se3. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.98.184509.
Willa, Kristin, Willa, Roland, Song, Kok Wee, Gu, G. D., Schneeloch, John A., Zhong, Ruidan, Koshelev, Alexei E., Kwok, Wai-Kwong, & Welp, Ulrich. Nanocalorimetric evidence for nematic superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Sr0.1Bi2Se3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.184509
Willa, Kristin, Willa, Roland, Song, Kok Wee, Gu, G. D., Schneeloch, John A., Zhong, Ruidan, Koshelev, Alexei E., Kwok, Wai-Kwong, and Welp, Ulrich. Mon .
"Nanocalorimetric evidence for nematic superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Sr0.1Bi2Se3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.184509. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1485254.
@article{osti_1485254,
title = {Nanocalorimetric evidence for nematic superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Sr0.1Bi2Se3},
author = {Willa, Kristin and Willa, Roland and Song, Kok Wee and Gu, G. D. and Schneeloch, John A. and Zhong, Ruidan and Koshelev, Alexei E. and Kwok, Wai-Kwong and Welp, Ulrich},
abstractNote = {Spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the superconducting state of doped Bi2Se3 has attracted significant attention as an indicator for topological superconductivity. In this paper, high-resolution calorimetry of the single-crystal Sr0.1Bi2Se3 provides unequivocal evidence of a twofold rotational symmetry in the superconducting gap by a bulk thermodynamic probe, a fingerprint of nematic superconductivity. The extremely small specific heat anomaly resolved with our high-sensitivity technique is consistent with the material's low carrier concentration proving bulk superconductivity. The large basal-plane anisotropy of H-c(2) (Gamma(exp) = 3.5) is attributed to a nematic phase of a two-component topological gap structure eta = (eta(1), eta(2)) and caused by a symmetry-breaking energy term delta (vertical bar eta(1)vertical bar(2) - vertical bar eta(2)vertical bar(2))T-c. A quantitative analysis of our data excludes more conventional sources of this twofold anisotropy and provides an estimate for the symmetry-breaking strength delta approximate to 0.1, a value that points to an onset transition of the second order parameter component below 2 K.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.98.184509},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 18,
volume = 98,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 19 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Nov 19 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
Web of Science
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