Evidence of superconducting Fermi arcs

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Andrii Kuibarov - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Oleksandr Suvorov - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Kyiv Academic University (Author)
  • Riccardo Vocaturo - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Alexander Fedorov - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (Author)
  • Rui Lou - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (Author)
  • Luise Merkwitz - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Vladimir Voroshnin - , Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • Jorge I. Facio - , Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (Author)
  • Klaus Koepernik - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Alexander Yaresko - , Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Author)
  • Grigory Shipunov - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Saicharan Aswartham - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Jeroen van den Brink - , Chair of Solid State Theory, Clusters of Excellence ct.qmat: Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Bernd Büchner - , Clusters of Excellence ct.qmat: Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter, Chair of Experimental Solid State Physics, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Sergey Borisenko - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)

Abstract

An essential ingredient for the production of Majorana fermions for use in quantum computing is topological superconductivity1,2. As bulk topological superconductors remain elusive, the most promising approaches exploit proximity-induced superconductivity3, making systems fragile and difficult to realize4–7. Due to their intrinsic topology8, Weyl semimetals are also potential candidates1,2, but have always been connected with bulk superconductivity, leaving the possibility of intrinsic superconductivity of their topological surface states, the Fermi arcs, practically without attention, even from the theory side. Here, by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we identify topological Fermi arcs on two opposing surfaces of the non-centrosymmetric Weyl material trigonal PtBi2 (ref. 9). We show these states become superconducting at temperatures around 10 K. Remarkably, the corresponding coherence peaks appear as the strongest and sharpest excitations ever detected by photoemission from solids. Our findings indicate that superconductivity in PtBi2 can occur exclusively at the surface, rendering it a possible platform to host Majorana modes in intrinsically topological superconductor–normal metal–superconductor Josephson junctions.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)294-299
Number of pages6
JournalNature
Volume626
Issue number7998
Publication statusPublished - 8 Feb 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38326595

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas