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The pseudogap stands out in the phase diagram of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors because its origin and relationship to superconductivity remain elusive. The origin of the pseudogap has been debated, with competing hypotheses attributing it to preformed electron pairs or local order, such as charge density waves. Here, we present unambiguous evidence supporting the pairing scenario, using local shot-noise spectroscopy measurements in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{\delta}. Our data demonstrates that the pseudogap energy coincides with the onset of electron pairing, and is spatially heterogeneous with values reaching up to 70 meV. Our results exclude a pure local order origin of the pseudogap, link the pseudogap to Cooper pair formation, and show that the limiting factor for higher Tc in cuprates is phase coherence., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and Supplementary Materials

BiTeI is a polar semiconductor with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) that produces large Rashba spin splitting. Due to its potential utility in spintronics and magnetoelectrics, it is essential to understand how defects impact the spin transport in this material. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we image ring-like charging states of single-atom defects on the iodine surface of BiTeI. We observe nanoscale variations in the Rashba energy around each defect, which we correlate with the local electric field extracted from the bias dependence of each ring radius. Our data demonstrate the local impact of atomic defects on the Rashba effect, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for the development of future nanoscale spintronic devices.

Bogoliubov quasiparticles play a crucial role in understanding the behavior of a superconductor, and in achieving reliable operations of superconducting quantum circuits. Diagnosis of quasiparticle poisoning at the nanoscale provides invaluable benefits in designing superconducting qubits. Here, we use scanning tunneling noise microscopy to locally quantify quasiparticles by measuring the effective charge. Using the vortex lattice as a model system, we directly visualize the spatial variation of the quasiparticle concentration around superconducting vortices, which can be described within the Ginzburg-Landau framework. This shows a direct, noninvasive approach for the atomic-scale detection of relative quasiparticle concentration as small as 10^-4 in various superconducting qubit systems. Our results alert of a quick increase in quasiparticle concentration with decreasing intervortex distance in vortex-based Majorana qubits., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

Majorana bound states are putative collective excitations in solids that exhibit the self-conjugate property of Majorana fermions - they are their own antiparticles. In iron-based superconductors, zero-energy states in vortices have been reported as potential Majorana bound states, but the evidence remains controversial. Here, we use scanning tunneling noise spectroscopy to study the tunneling process into vortex bound states in the conventional superconductor NbSe2, and in the putative Majorana platform FeTe0.55Se0.45. We find that tunneling into vortex bound states in both cases exhibits charge transfer of a single electron charge. Our data for the zero-energy bound states in FeTe0.55Se0.45 exclude the possibility of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states and are consistent with both Majorana bound states and trivial vortex bound states. Our results open an avenue for investigating the exotic states in vortex cores and for future Majorana devices, although further theoretical investigations involving charge dynamics and superconducting tips are necessary., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, and 16 pages for supplementary information

The cuprate high-temperature superconductors exhibit many unexplained electronic phases, but it was often thought that the superconductivity at sufficiently high doping is governed by conventional mean-field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory[1]. However, recent measurements show that the number of paired electrons (the superfluid density) vanishes when the transition temperature Tc goes to zero[2], in contradiction to expectation from BCS theory. The origin of this anomalous vanishing is unknown. Our scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements in the overdoped regime of the (Pb,Bi)2Sr2CuO6+{\delta} high-temperature superconductor show that it is due to the emergence of puddled superconductivity, featuring nanoscale superconducting islands in a metallic matrix[3,4]. Our measurements further reveal that this puddling is driven by gap filling, while the gap itself persists beyond the breakdown of superconductivity. The important implication is that it is not a diminishing pairing interaction that causes the breakdown of superconductivity. Unexpectedly, the measured gap-to-filling correlation also reveals that pair-breaking by disorder does not play a dominant role and that the mechanism of superconductivity in overdoped cuprate superconductors is qualitatively different from conventional mean-field theory.

The idea that preformed Cooper pairs could exist in a superconductor above its zero-resistance state has been explored for unconventional, interface, and disordered superconductors, yet direct experimental evidence is lacking. Here, we use scanning tunneling noise spectroscopy to unambiguously show that preformed Cooper pairs exist up to temperatures much higher than the zero-resistance critical temperature $T_{C}$ in the disordered superconductor titanium nitride, by observing a clear enhancement in the shot noise that is equivalent to a change of the effective charge from 1 to 2 electron charges. We further show that spectroscopic gap fills up rather than closes when increasing temperature. Our results thus demonstrate the existence of a novel state above $T_{C}$ that, much like an ordinary metal, has no (pseudo)gap, but carries charge via paired electrons.

A point charge near the surface of a topological insulator (TI) with broken time-reversal symmetry is predicted to generate an image magnetic charge in addition to an image electric charge. We use scanning tunneling spectroscopy to study the image potential states (IPS) of the topological semimetal Sb(111) surface. We observe five IPS with discrete energy levels that are well described by a one-dimensional model. The spatial variation of the IPS energies and lifetimes near surface step edges shows the first local signature of resonant interband scattering between IPS, which suggests that image charges too may interact. Our work motivates the exploration of the TI surface geometry necessary to realize and manipulate a magnetic charge., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

Recently, interface has been employed to enhance superconductivity in the single-layer FeSe films grown on SrTiO3(001)(STO) with a possible Tc of ~ 80 K, which is nearly ten times of the Tc of bulk FeSe and is above the Tc record of 56 K for the bulk Fe-based superconductors. This work together with those on superconducting oxides interfaces revives the long-standing idea that electron pairing at a two-dimensional (2D) interface between two different materials is a potential path to high transition temperature (Tc) superconductivity. Subsequent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements revealed different electronic structure from those of bulk FeSe with a superconducting-like energy gap closing at around 65K. However, previous ex situ electrical transport measurements could only detect the zero-resistance below ~30 K. Here we report the observation of high Tc superconductivity in the FeSe/STO system. By in situ 4-point probe (4PP) electrical transport measurement that can be conducted at an arbitrary position of the FeSe film on STO, we detected superconductivity above 100 K. Our finding makes FeSe/STO the exciting and ideal research platform for higher Tc superconductivity., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 7 pages supplementary materials

Majorana fermions have been intensively studied in recent years for their importance to both fundamental science and potential applications in topological quantum computing1,2. Majorana fermions are predicted to exist in a vortex core of superconducting topological insulators3. However, they are extremely difficult to be distinguished experimentally from other quasiparticle states for the tiny energy difference between Majorana fermions and these states, which is beyond the energy resolution of most available techniques. Here, we overcome the problem by systematically investigating the spatial profile of the Majorana mode and the bound quasiparticle states within a vortex in Bi2Te3/NbSe2. While the zero bias peak in local conductance splits right off the vortex center in conventional superconductors, it splits off at a finite distance ~20nm away from the vortex center in Bi2Te3/NbSe2, primarily due to the Majorana fermion zero mode. While the Majorana mode is destroyed by reducing the distance between vortices, the zero bias peak splits as a conventional superconductor again. This work provides strong evidences of Majorana fermions and also suggests a possible route to manipulating them., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures