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Magnetic memory and spontaneous vortices in a van der Waals superconductor

Author

Listed:
  • Eylon Persky

    (Bar Ilan University
    Bar Ilan University)

  • Anders V. Bjørlig

    (Bar Ilan University
    Bar Ilan University)

  • Irena Feldman

    (Technion–Israel Institute of Technology)

  • Avior Almoalem

    (Technion–Israel Institute of Technology)

  • Ehud Altman

    (University of California, Berkeley
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Erez Berg

    (Weizmann Institute of Science)

  • Itamar Kimchi

    (School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Jonathan Ruhman

    (Bar Ilan University)

  • Amit Kanigel

    (Technion–Israel Institute of Technology)

  • Beena Kalisky

    (Bar Ilan University
    Bar Ilan University)

Abstract

Doped Mott insulators exhibit some of the most intriguing quantum phases of matter, including quantum spin liquids, unconventional superconductors and non-Fermi liquid metals1–3. Such phases often arise when itinerant electrons are close to a Mott insulating state, and thus experience strong spatial correlations. Proximity between different layers of van der Waals heterostructures naturally realizes a platform for experimentally studying the relationship between localized, correlated electrons and itinerant electrons. Here we explore this relationship by studying the magnetic landscape of tantalum disulfide 4Hb-TaS2, which realizes an alternating stacking of a candidate spin liquid and a superconductor4. We report on a spontaneous vortex phase whose vortex density can be trained in the normal state. We show that time-reversal symmetry is broken in the normal state, indicating the presence of a magnetic phase independent of the superconductor. Notably, this phase does not generate ferromagnetic signals that are detectable using conventional techniques. We use scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy to show that it is incompatible with ferromagnetic ordering. The discovery of this unusual magnetic phase illustrates how combining superconductivity with a strongly correlated system can lead to unexpected physics.

Suggested Citation

  • Eylon Persky & Anders V. Bjørlig & Irena Feldman & Avior Almoalem & Ehud Altman & Erez Berg & Itamar Kimchi & Jonathan Ruhman & Amit Kanigel & Beena Kalisky, 2022. "Magnetic memory and spontaneous vortices in a van der Waals superconductor," Nature, Nature, vol. 607(7920), pages 692-696, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:607:y:2022:i:7920:d:10.1038_s41586-022-04855-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04855-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Shao-Bo Liu & Congkuan Tian & Yuqiang Fang & Hongtao Rong & Lu Cao & Xinjian Wei & Hang Cui & Mantang Chen & Di Chen & Yuanjun Song & Jian Cui & Jiankun Li & Shuyue Guan & Shuang Jia & Chaoyu Chen & W, 2024. "Nematic Ising superconductivity with hidden magnetism in few-layer 6R-TaS2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. I. Silber & S. Mathimalar & I. Mangel & A. K. Nayak & O. Green & N. Avraham & H. Beidenkopf & I. Feldman & A. Kanigel & A. Klein & M. Goldstein & A. Banerjee & E. Sela & Y. Dagan, 2024. "Two-component nematic superconductivity in 4Hb-TaS2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-6, December.
    3. Chenli Huang & Rong Sun & Lipiao Bao & Xinyue Tian & Changwang Pan & Mengyang Li & Wangqiang Shen & Kun Guo & Bingwu Wang & Xing Lu & Song Gao, 2023. "A hard molecular nanomagnet from confined paramagnetic 3d-4f spins inside a fullerene cage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Yihao Wang & Zhihao Li & Xuan Luo & Jingjing Gao & Yuyan Han & Jialiang Jiang & Jin Tang & Huanxin Ju & Tongrui Li & Run Lv & Shengtao Cui & Yingguo Yang & Yuping Sun & Junfa Zhu & Xingyu Gao & Wenjia, 2024. "Dualistic insulator states in 1T-TaS2 crystals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Quanzhen Zhang & Wen-Yu He & Yu Zhang & Yaoyao Chen & Liangguang Jia & Yanhui Hou & Hongyan Ji & Huixia Yang & Teng Zhang & Liwei Liu & Hong-Jun Gao & Thomas A. Jung & Yeliang Wang, 2024. "Quantum spin liquid signatures in monolayer 1T-NbSe2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. E. S. Bozin & M. Abeykoon & S. Conradson & G. Baldinozzi & P. Sutar & D. Mihailovic, 2023. "Crystallization of polarons through charge and spin ordering transitions in 1T-TaS2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Avior Almoalem & Irena Feldman & Ilay Mangel & Michael Shlafman & Yuval E. Yaish & Mark H. Fischer & Michael Moshe & Jonathan Ruhman & Amit Kanigel, 2024. "The observation of π-shifts in the Little-Parks effect in 4Hb-TaS2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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