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We compare the upper critical field of bulk single-crystalline samples of the two intrinsic transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) superconductors, 2H-NbSe2 and 2H-NbS2, in high magnetic fields where their layer structure is aligned strictly parallel and perpendicular to the field, using magnetic torque experiments and a high-precision piezo-rotary positioner. While both superconductors show that orbital effects still have a significant impact when the layer structure is aligned parallel to the field, the upper critical field of NbS2 rises above the Pauli limiting field and forms a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state, while orbital effects suppress superconductivity in NbSe2 just below the Pauli limit. From the out-of-plane anisotropies, the coherence length perpendicular to the layers of 31 {\AA} in NbSe2 is much larger than the interlayer distance, leading to a significant orbital effect suppressing superconductivity before the Pauli limit is reached, in contrast to the more 2D NbS2.

We report on the structural phase transitions in the S doped FeSe superconductor by powder synchrotron X ray diffraction at high pressures up to 18.5 GPa under compression and decompression modes. In order to create high quasi hydrostatic pressures, diamond anvil cells filled with helium as a pressure transmitting medium were used. It was found that at ambient pressure and room temperature, S doped FeSe has a tetragonal structure. Under compression, in the region of 10 GPa, a phase transition from the tetragonal into the orthorhombic structure is observed, which persists up to 18.5 GPa. Our results strongly suggest that, at decompression, as the applied pressure decreases to 6 GPa and then is completely removed, most of the sample recrystallizes into the hexagonal phase of the structural type NiAs. However, the other part of the sample remains in the high pressure orthorhombic phase, while the tetragonal phase is not restored. These observations illustrate a strong hysteresis of the structural properties of S doped FeSe during a phase transition under pressure., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

Due to their physical properties and potential applications in energy conversion and storage, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have garnered substantial interest in recent years. Amongst this class of materials, TMDs based on molybdenum, tungsten, sulfur and selenium are particularly attractive due to their semiconducting properties and the availability of bottom-up synthesis techniques. Here we report a method which yields high quality crystals of transition metal diselenide and ditelluride compounds (PtTe2, PdTe2, NiTe2, TaTe2, TiTe2, RuTe2, PtSe2, PdSe2, NbSe2, TiSe2, VSe2, ReSe2) from their solid solutions, via vapor deposition from a metal-saturated chalcogen melt. Additionally, we show the synthesis of rare-earth metal poly-chalcogenides and NbS2 crystals using the aforementioned process. Most of the obtained crystals have a layered CdI2 structure. We have investigated the physical properties of selected crystals and compared them to state-of-the-art findings reported in the literature. Remarkably, the charge density wave transition in 1T-TiSe2 and 2H-NbSe2 crystals is well-defined at TCDW ~ 200 K and ~ 33 K, respectively. Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and electron diffraction are used to directly access the electronic and crystal structures of PtTe2 single crystals, and yield state-of-the-art measurements., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures

The interplay of orbital and spin degrees of freedom is the fundamental characteristic in numerous condensed matter phenomena, including high temperature superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, and topological semimetals. In iron-based superconductors (FeSCs), this causes superconductivity to emerge in the vicinity of two other instabilities: nematic and magnetic. Unveiling the mutual relationship among nematic order, spin fluctuations, and superconductivity has been a major challenge for research in FeSCs, but it is still controversial. Here, by carrying out 77Se nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on FeSe single crystals, doped by cobalt and sulfur that serve as control parameters, we demonstrate that the superconducting transition temperature Tc increases in proportion to the strength of spin fluctuations, while it is independent of the nematic transition temperature Tnem. Our observation therefore directly implies that superconductivity in FeSe is essentially driven by spin fluctuations in the intermediate coupling regime, while nematic fluctuations have a marginal impact on Tc., Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; includes supplementary materials (1 note and 3 figures)

We investigate the pressure dependence of the upper critical fields ({\mu}$_0$$H$$_{c2}$) for FeSe single crystals with pressure up to 2.57 GPa. The superconducting (SC) properties show a disparate behavior across a critical pressure where the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic phase coexists with superconductivity. The magnetoresistance for $H//ab$ and $H//c$ is very different: for $H//c$, magnetic field induces and enhances a hump in the resistivity close to the $T_c$ for pressures higher than 1.2 GPa, while it is absent for $H//ab$. Since the measured {\mu}$_0$$H$$_{c2}$ for FeSe samples is smaller than the orbital limited upper critical field ($H$$^{orb}$$_{c2}$) estimated by the Werthamer Helfand and Hohenberg (WHH) model, the Maki parameter ({\alpha}) related to Pauli spin-paramagnetic effects is additionally considered to describe the temperature dependence of {\mu}$_0$$H$$_{c2}$($T$). Interestingly, the {\alpha} value is hardly affected by pressure for $H//ab$, while it strongly increases with pressure for $H//c$. The pressure evolution of the {\mu}$_0$$H$$_{c2}$(0)s for the FeSe single crystals is found to be almost similar to that of $T_c$($P$), suggesting that the pressure-induced magnetic order adversely affects the upper critical fields as well as the SC transition temperature., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, 1 table

We investigate the relation of the critical current density (Jc) and the remarkably increased superconducting transition temperature (Tc) for the FeSe single crystals under pressures up to 2.43 GPa, where the Tc is increased by ~8 K/GPa. The critical current density corresponding to the free flux flow is monotonically enhanced by pressure which is due to the increase in Tc, whereas the depinning critical current density at which the vortex starts to move is more influenced by the pressure-induced magnetic state compared to the increase of Tc. Unlike other high-Tc superconductors, FeSe is not magnetic, but superconducting at ambient pressure. Above a critical pressure where magnetic state is induced and coexists with superconductivity, the depinning Jc abruptly increases even though the increase of the zero-resistivity Tc is negligible, directly indicating that the flux pinning property compared to the Tc enhancement is a more crucial factor for an achievement of a large Jc. In addition, the sharp increase in Jc in the coexisting superconducting phase of FeSe demonstrates that vortices can be effectively trapped by the competing antiferromagnetic order, even though its antagonistic nature against superconductivity is well documented. These results provide new guidance toward technological applications of high-temperature superconductors., Comment: 24pages, 8 figures