Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi2

Lewis Powell; Wenjun Kuang; Gabriel Hawkins-Pottier; Rashid Jalil; John Birkbeck; Ziyi Jiang; Minsoo Kim; Yichao Zou; Sofiia Komrakova; Sarah Haigh; Ivan Timokhin; Geetha    Balakrishnan; Andre K. Geim; Niels  Walet; Alessandro Principi; Irina V. Grigorieva

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x

Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi₂

Lewis Powell, Wenjun Kuang, Gabriel Hawkins-Pottier, Rashid Jalil, John Birkbeck, Ziyi Jiang, Minsoo Kim, Yichao Zou, Sofiia Komrakova, Sarah Haigh, Ivan Timokhin, Geetha Balakrishnan, Andre K. Geim, Niels Walet, Alessandro Principi, Irina V. Grigorieva

The University of Warwick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Unconventional superconductivity, where electron pairing does not involve electron-phonon interactions, is often attributed to magnetic correlations in a material. Well known examples include high-T_c cuprates and uranium-based heavy fermion superconductors. Less explored are unconventional superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling, where interactions between spin-polarised electrons and external magnetic field can result in multiple
superconducting phases and field-induced transitions between them, a rare phenomenon in the superconducting state. Here we report a magnetic-field driven phase transition in PdBi₂, a layered non-magnetic superconductor. Our tunnelling spectroscopy on thin PdBi₂ monocrystals incorporated in planar superconductor-insulator-normal metal junctions, reveals a marked discontinuity in the superconducting properties with increasing in-plane field, which is consistent with a transition from conventional (s-wave) to nodal pairing. Our
theoretical analysis suggests that this phase transition may arise from spin polarisation and spin-momentum locking caused by locally broken inversion symmetry, with p-wave pairing becoming energetically favourable in high fields. Our findings also reconcile earlier predictions of unconventional multigap superconductivity in PdBi2 with previous experiments where only a single s-wave gap could be detected.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Communications
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x
Publication status	Published - 2 Jan 2025

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

National Graphene Institute

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-024-54867-xLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{5fa853ad7e95476a8c230a973f5a3195,

title = "Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi2",

abstract = "Unconventional superconductivity, where electron pairing does not involve electron-phonon interactions, is often attributed to magnetic correlations in a material. Well known examples include high-Tc cuprates and uranium-based heavy fermion superconductors. Less explored are unconventional superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling, where interactions between spin-polarised electrons and external magnetic field can result in multiplesuperconducting phases and field-induced transitions between them, a rare phenomenon in the superconducting state. Here we report a magnetic-field driven phase transition in PdBi2, a layered non-magnetic superconductor. Our tunnelling spectroscopy on thin PdBi2 monocrystals incorporated in planar superconductor-insulator-normal metal junctions, reveals a marked discontinuity in the superconducting properties with increasing in-plane field, which is consistent with a transition from conventional (s-wave) to nodal pairing. Our theoretical analysis suggests that this phase transition may arise from spin polarisation and spin-momentum locking caused by locally broken inversion symmetry, with p-wave pairing becoming energetically favourable in high fields. Our findings also reconcile earlier predictions of unconventional multigap superconductivity in PdBi2 with previous experiments where only a single s-wave gap could be detected.",

author = "Lewis Powell and Wenjun Kuang and Gabriel Hawkins-Pottier and Rashid Jalil and John Birkbeck and Ziyi Jiang and Minsoo Kim and Yichao Zou and Sofiia Komrakova and Sarah Haigh and Ivan Timokhin and Geetha Balakrishnan and Geim, {Andre K.} and Niels Walet and Alessandro Principi and Grigorieva, {Irina V.}",

year = "2025",

month = jan,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x",

language = "English",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature Research",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi2

AU - Powell, Lewis

AU - Kuang, Wenjun

AU - Hawkins-Pottier, Gabriel

AU - Jalil, Rashid

AU - Birkbeck, John

AU - Jiang, Ziyi

AU - Kim, Minsoo

AU - Zou, Yichao

AU - Komrakova, Sofiia

AU - Haigh, Sarah

AU - Timokhin, Ivan

AU - Balakrishnan, Geetha

AU - Geim, Andre K.

AU - Walet, Niels

AU - Principi, Alessandro

AU - Grigorieva, Irina V.

PY - 2025/1/2

Y1 - 2025/1/2

N2 - Unconventional superconductivity, where electron pairing does not involve electron-phonon interactions, is often attributed to magnetic correlations in a material. Well known examples include high-Tc cuprates and uranium-based heavy fermion superconductors. Less explored are unconventional superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling, where interactions between spin-polarised electrons and external magnetic field can result in multiplesuperconducting phases and field-induced transitions between them, a rare phenomenon in the superconducting state. Here we report a magnetic-field driven phase transition in PdBi2, a layered non-magnetic superconductor. Our tunnelling spectroscopy on thin PdBi2 monocrystals incorporated in planar superconductor-insulator-normal metal junctions, reveals a marked discontinuity in the superconducting properties with increasing in-plane field, which is consistent with a transition from conventional (s-wave) to nodal pairing. Our theoretical analysis suggests that this phase transition may arise from spin polarisation and spin-momentum locking caused by locally broken inversion symmetry, with p-wave pairing becoming energetically favourable in high fields. Our findings also reconcile earlier predictions of unconventional multigap superconductivity in PdBi2 with previous experiments where only a single s-wave gap could be detected.

AB - Unconventional superconductivity, where electron pairing does not involve electron-phonon interactions, is often attributed to magnetic correlations in a material. Well known examples include high-Tc cuprates and uranium-based heavy fermion superconductors. Less explored are unconventional superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling, where interactions between spin-polarised electrons and external magnetic field can result in multiplesuperconducting phases and field-induced transitions between them, a rare phenomenon in the superconducting state. Here we report a magnetic-field driven phase transition in PdBi2, a layered non-magnetic superconductor. Our tunnelling spectroscopy on thin PdBi2 monocrystals incorporated in planar superconductor-insulator-normal metal junctions, reveals a marked discontinuity in the superconducting properties with increasing in-plane field, which is consistent with a transition from conventional (s-wave) to nodal pairing. Our theoretical analysis suggests that this phase transition may arise from spin polarisation and spin-momentum locking caused by locally broken inversion symmetry, with p-wave pairing becoming energetically favourable in high fields. Our findings also reconcile earlier predictions of unconventional multigap superconductivity in PdBi2 with previous experiments where only a single s-wave gap could be detected.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x

DO - 10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

ER -