1. Evidence of surface $p$-wave superconductivity and higher-order topology in MoTe$_2$
- Author
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Lee, Sangyun, Kang, Myungjun, Kim, Duk Y., Kim, Jihyun, Cho, Suyeon, Cheon, Sangmo, and Park, Tuson
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Superconductivity - Abstract
Exploration of nontrivial superconductivity and electronic band topology is at the core of condensed matter physics and applications to quantum information. The transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) MoTe$_2$ has been proposed as an ideal candidate to explore the interplay between topology and superconductivity, but their studies remain limited because of the high-pressure environments required to control the topological phase transition. In this work, we demonstrate the tunable superconductivity and the resultant higher-order topology of MoTe$_2$ under extreme pressure. In the pressured T$_d$ phase, Andreev reflection spectroscopy reveals two-gap features, indicating that the Weyl fermions lead to a topological $s^{\pm}$-wave multigap superconductivity. On the other hand, the high-pressure 1T$'$ phase presents $p$-wave surface superconductivity emergent from the second-order topological bands via the bulk-to-surface proximity effect. Our analysis suggests that the topological hinge states generated from second-order topological bands evolve into zero-energy Majorana hinge states in the second-order topological superconductor. These results demonstrate the potential realization of topological superconductivity in MoTe$_2$, thus opening a pathway for studying various topological natures of TMDC materials.
- Published
- 2024