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Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi2

Author

Listed:
  • Lewis Powell

    (University of Manchester)

  • Wenjun Kuang

    (University of Manchester
    AMS)

  • Gabriel Hawkins-Pottier

    (University of Manchester)

  • Rashid Jalil

    (University of Manchester)

  • John Birkbeck

    (University of Manchester)

  • Ziyi Jiang

    (University of Manchester)

  • Minsoo Kim

    (University of Manchester)

  • Yichao Zou

    (University of Manchester)

  • Sofiia Komrakova

    (University of Manchester)

  • Sarah Haigh

    (University of Manchester)

  • Ivan Timokhin

    (University of Manchester)

  • Geetha Balakrishnan

    (University of Warwick)

  • Andre K. Geim

    (University of Manchester
    University of Manchester)

  • Niels Walet

    (University of Manchester)

  • Alessandro Principi

    (University of Manchester)

  • Irina V. Grigorieva

    (University of Manchester
    University of Manchester)

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 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 β-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 β-PdBi2 with previous experiments where only a single s-wave gap could be detected.

Suggested Citation

  • 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 & And, 2025. "Multiphase superconductivity in PdBi2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54867-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54867-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Sakano & K. Okawa & M. Kanou & H. Sanjo & T. Okuda & T. Sasagawa & K Ishizaka, 2015. "Topologically protected surface states in a centrosymmetric superconductor β-PdBi2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. K. Iwaya & Y. Kohsaka & K. Okawa & T. Machida & M. S. Bahramy & T. Hanaguri & T. Sasagawa, 2017. "Full-gap superconductivity in spin-polarised surface states of topological semimetal β-PdBi2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Filippo Pizzocchero & Lene Gammelgaard & Bjarke S. Jessen & José M. Caridad & Lei Wang & James Hone & Peter Bøggild & Timothy J. Booth, 2016. "The hot pick-up technique for batch assembly of van der Waals heterostructures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, September.
    4. Sergio C. Barrera & Michael R. Sinko & Devashish P. Gopalan & Nikhil Sivadas & Kyle L. Seyler & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Adam W. Tsen & Xiaodong Xu & Di Xiao & Benjamin M. Hunt, 2018. "Tuning Ising superconductivity with layer and spin–orbit coupling in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
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