Search

Kagome materials with inherent geometric frustration can produce many interesting physical properties, such as flat bands, quantum spin liquid, chiral magnetism, superconductivity and density-wave orders. Sometimes, the localized 4$f$ electrons from Ce atoms coupled with other conduction electrons would also give rise to the flat bands near the Fermi level, and results in the formation of heavy fermion. Thus, it is highly probable that kagome material incorporating Ce element will display nontrivial physical properties. In this study, we present a new Kagome material belonging to the trinary Laves phase, Ce$_{2}$Ru$_{3}$Si, in which kagome plane is formed by Ru atoms. Electrical transport and specific heat measurements reveal a density-wave like transition. A Curie-Weiss behavior is observed in low-temperature region. Meanwhile we also find a relatively large specific coefficient $\gamma_{n}(0)$. The calculated Wilson ratio $R_\mathrm{W}\propto{\chi(0)/\gamma_{n}}$ is approximately 3.1, indicating a moderate electron correlation effect. Chemical doping of Ir at the Ru site rapidly suppresses this density-wave like transition, while Mo doping leads to a gradual decrease in transition temperature. Theoretical calculation indicates both the Ce-4$f$ and Ru-4$d$ electronic bands cross the Fermi level, forming a Mexican-hat-shape Fermi surface close to the Fermi energy, potentially accounting for the observed density-wave like transition. Our findings provide an useful platform for investigating how hybridization between 4$f$ and 4$d$ electrons influences the electronic transport, and the relationship between the density-wave transition and kagome structure., Comment: 15pages, 4 figures,2 supplementary figures

We report on optical studies of the Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates La$_{n+1}$Ni$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ with $n = 2$ (La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$), $n = 3$ (La$_{4}$Ni$_{3}$O$_{10}$) and $n = \infty$ (LaNiO$_{3}$). As the number of the NiO$_{6}$ octahedra layers $n$ grows, the ratio of the kinetic energy determined from the experimental optical conductivity and that from band theory $K_{\text{exp}}/K_{\text{band}}$ increases, suggesting a reduction of electronic correlations. While the strong electronic correlations in the bilayer La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ place it on the verge of the Mott insulating phase, the trilayer La$_{4}$Ni$_{3}$O$_{10}$ and infinite-layer LaNiO$_{3}$ exhibit moderate electronic correlations, falling into the regime of correlated metals. The evolution of the electronic correlations in La$_{n+1}$Ni$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ is likely to be dominated by the Ni-$d_{z^2}$ orbital. Our results provide important information for understanding the superconductivity in Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcome and appreciated

The attractive interaction in conventional BCS superconductors is provided by a bosonic mode. However, the pairing glue of most unconventional superconductors is unknown. The effect of electron-boson coupling is therefore extensively studied in these materials. A key signature are dispersion kinks that can be observed in the spectral function as abrupt changes in velocity and lifetime of quasiparticles. Here, we show the existence of two kinks in the unconventional iron-based superconductor RbFe$_2$As$_2$ using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). In addition, we observe the formation of a Hubbard band multiplet due to the combination of Coulomb interaction and Hund's rule coupling in this multiorbital systems. We demonstrate that the two dispersion kinks are a consequence of these strong many-body interactions. This interpretation is in line with a growing number of theoretical predictions for kinks in various general models of correlated materials. Our results provide a unifying link between iron-based superconductors and different classes of correlated, unconventional superconductors such as cuprates and heavy-fermion materials.

In this study, we present a detailed investigation of kagome superconductors CsV3Sb5 single crystal and its Ta-doped variant, Cs(V0.86Ta0.14)3Sb5, through specific heat measurements. Our results show a clear suppression of the charge density wave (CDW) and notable increase in the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) from 2.8 K to 4.6 K upon Ta doping. The electronic specific heat of the pristine CsV3Sb5 sample can be fitted with a model comprising an s-wave gap and a highly anisotropic extended s-wave gap, where the ratio 2{\Delta}/k_B T_c is smaller than the weak coupling limit of 3.5. For the doped sample Cs(V0.86Ta0.14)3Sb5, it exhibits two isotropic s-wave gaps, yielding the larger gap of 2{\Delta}/k_B T_c=5.04, which indicates a significant enhancement in superconducting coupling. This evolution is attributed to the increased density of states (DOS) near the Fermi level released through the suppression of the CDW gap. Our results demonstrate enhanced superconducting coupling and variation of gap structure in CsV3Sb5 due to Ta doping.

The applications of superconducting cable or magnet require that the superconductors are made into wires or tapes. For cuprate superconductors, this is a big challenge because of the strong flux motion induced by high anisotropy, very short coherence length and strong thermal fluctuation, etc. One of the ways is to fabricate superconducting films on flexible metallic tapes with oxide buffer layers. The successful one so far is the REBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ (REBCO, RE=rare earth elements) films in tape form, as called the coated conductors. While the superconducting transition temperature of REBCO system is limited to about 90 K. Here we report the successful fabrication of another new non-toxic superconducting film, namely (Cu,C)Ba$_{2}$Ca$_{2}$Cu$_3$O$_{9+\delta}$ on these flexible metallic tapes with LaMnO$_3$ and CeO$_2$ as the top layers. The onset superconducting transition occurs at 112 K and 110 K, and the zero-resistance transition temperatures are about 96 K and 98 K, respectively. The temperature dependent resistivity under magnetic fields in different directions reveal a relatively small anisotropy. Further optimization of the films will improve the zero resistance transition temperature, thus can also improve the characteristic properties for applications. Our results show that the (Cu,C)Ba$_{2}$Ca$_{2}$Cu$_3$O$_{9+\delta}$ is a promising candidate material for the high power applications in liquid nitrogen temperature region., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

The recently discovered spin-triplet superconductor candidate UTe2 with Tc = 2 K has attracted enormous attention because it possesses many interesting properties, such as the extremely high upper critical field Hc2(0), chiral superconductivity and spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking, etc., all these suggest that it may be the long-sought spin-triplet superconductor. Here we report the discovery of superconductivity up to Tc = 4K in one of its siblings, i.e., UAs2 under high pressures. Interestingly, the UAs2 shows metallic behavior with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition at about 274 K under ambient pressure. Upon applying pressure, this transition is pushed down to lower temperatures with improved electric conductivity. When the pressure rises to about 20-22 GPa, superconductivity occurs together with the emergence of a linear temperature dependence of normal state resistance, the latter is a hallmark of the strange-metal state. The superconductivity with the highest Tc = 4 K is reached under a pressure of about 26.8 GPa, and it is robust against magnetic field with the upper critical field {\mu}0Hc2(0) ~ 12 T, far beyond the Pauli limit. Higher pressures will suppress the superconductivity and bring back the Fermi liquid behavior, showing a clear signature of quantum criticality. Our results open a new avenue for investigating the unconventional superconductivity concerning the mysterious 5f-band electrons in this uranium-based system., Comment: 16 pages of main text, 4 figures + 7 extended data figures

High superconducting transition temperature is favorable for the applications of superconductors. Some cuprate superconductors have the transition temperatures above 100 K, such as the Hg- or Tl-based 1223 and 1234 phases, but many of them contain the toxic elements, like Hg and Tl. Meanwhile, the high anisotropy makes the vortices easy to move, thus the irreversibility magnetic field is very low in the liquid nitrogen temperature region. Here we report the successful synthesis of superconducting thin films (Cu,C)Ba$_{2}$Ca$_{2}$Cu$_3$O$_{9+\delta}$ with the zero-resistance transition temperature reaching 99.7 K. The film shows a very good crystallinity with (00l) orientation. The superconducting transitions are rather sharp as revealed by both resistivity and magnetization measurements. Temperature dependent resistivity has been measured under different magnetic fields along c-axis and ab-plane, and the irreversibility lines have been achieved. The resistivity was also measured at different temperatures with the magnetic field rotated in the ac-plane, and the data can be nicely scaled by using the anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau model, yielding a temperature dependent anisotropy which varies from 17 at 110 K to 4 at 77 K. We also measured the magnetization-hysteresis-loops and calculated the critical current density through the Bean critical state model. The critical current density at 77 K is about 6$\times$10$^5$ A/cm$^2$ (zero field), thus the film may be a good candidate for the applications of superconducting cables or the high frequency superconducting filters., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

Vortex is a topological defect in the superconducting condensate when a magnetic field is applied to a type-II superconductor, as elucidated by the Ginzburg-Landau theory. Due to the confinement of the quasiparticles by a vortex, it exhibits a circular shaped pattern of bound states with discrete energy levels, as predicted by the Caroli-de Gennes-Matricon theory in 1964. Here, however, we report a completely new type of vortex pattern which is necklace-like in an iron-based superconductor KCa2Fe4As4F2. Our theoretical analysis shows that this necklace-like vortex pattern arises from selective off-shell interference between vortex bound states of opposite angular momenta in the presence of rotational symmetry breaking due to disorders. This fascinating effect can be observed in a system with a small Fermi energy and wave vector, conditions fortuitously met in our samples. Our results not only disclose a novel vortex structure but also provide insights into comprehending the physics of the superconducting condensate., Comment: 29 pages total; 16 pages of main text with 5 figures, 13 pages of supplementary materials with 10 figures

The discovery of superconductivity in 3$d$-transition metal compounds with strong magnetism is interesting but rare. Especially for Mn-based compounds, there exist only very limited materials that show superconductivity. Here, we report the discovery of superconductivity up to 14.2 K in a Mn-based material MnB$_4$. By applying high pressures, we found the continuous suppression of a weak insulating behavior and the occurrence of superconductivity after about 30 GPa. With further increasing pressure, $T_\text{c}$ is gradually enhanced and reaches the maximum value of about 14.2 K at 150 GPa with a Fermi-Liquid behavior in the normal states. The synchrotron X-ray diffraction data reveal the unchanged monoclinic (S.G: $P2_1/c$) symmetry but an unusual crossover of the lattice parameters $b$ and $c$. Theoretical calculations based on the electron-phonon coupling picture reveal a very low $T_\text{c}$ (less than 1 K), manifesting an exotic pairing mechanism beyond the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory. Our findings show a promising way to explore high $T_\text{c}$ superconductivity by combining the 3d-transition metal magnetic elements and light elements., Comment: 36 pages total; 24 pages of main text with 5 figures, 12 pages of supplement with 1 table and 8 figures

By using the pulsed-laser-ablation technique, we have successfully grown the La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7-\delta}$ thin films with $c$-axis orientation perpendicular to the film surface. X-ray diffraction shows that the (00l) peaks can be well indexed to the La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7-\delta}$ phase. Resistive measurements show that the samples can be tuned from weak insulating to metallic behavior through adjusting the growth conditions. Surprisingly, all curves of $\rho-T$ in the temperature region of 2$\sim$300~K do not show the anomalies corresponding to either the spin density wave or the charge density wave orders as seen in bulk samples. Hall effect measurements show a linear field dependence with the dominant hole charge carriers, but the Hall coefficient $R_{H}=\rho_{xy}/H$ exhibits strong temperature dependence. The magnetoresistance above about 50~K is positive but very weak, indicating the absence of multiband effect. However, a negative magnetoresistance is observed at low temperatures, which shows the delocalization effect. Detailed analysis on the magnetoresistance suggests that the delocalization effect at low temperatures is due to the Kondo-like effect, rather than the Anderson weak localization. Our transport results suggest that, the electronic conduction is fulfilled by the $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$ orbital with holes as the dominant charge carriers, while the interaction through Hund's coupling with the localized $d_{z^{2}}$ orbital plays an important role in the charge dynamics.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of current research on the structural, electronic, and magnetic characteristics of the recently discovered high-temperature superconductor La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ under high pressures. We present the experimental results for synthesizing and characterizing this material, derived from measurements of transport, thermodynamics, and various spectroscopic techniques, and discuss their physical implications. We also explore theoretical models proposed to describe the electronic structures and superconducting pairing symmetry in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, highlighting the intricate interplay between electronic correlations and magnetic interactions. Despite these advances, challenges remain in growing high-quality samples free of extrinsic phases and oxygen deficiencies and in developing reliable measurement tools for determining diamagnetism and other physical quantities under high pressures. Further investigations in these areas are essential to deepening our understanding of the physical properties of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ and unlocking its superconducting pairing mechanism., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

It is well-known that magnetic moments are very harmful to superconductivity. A typical example is the element Mn whose compounds usually exhibit strong magnetism. Thus, it is very hard to achieve superconductivity in materials containing Mn. Here, we report enhanced superconductivity with the superconducting transition temperature ($T_\text{c}$) up to a record high-value of about 26 K in a beta-phase Ti$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$ alloy containing rich magnetic element Mn under high pressures. This is contrary to the intuition that the magnetic moments always suppress superconductivity. Under high pressures, we also found that in the middle-pressure regime, the Pauli limit of the upper critical field is surpassed. The synchrotron X-ray diffraction data shows an unchanged beta-phase with a continuous contraction of the cell volume, which is well supported by the first-principles calculations. Although the theoretical results based on electron-phonon coupling (EPC) can interpret the $T_\text{c}$ value in a certain pressure region, the monotonic enhancement of superconductivity by pressure cannot seek support from the theory. Our results show a surprising enhancement of superconductivity in Ti$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$ alloy with a considerable Mn content., Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. Comments are welcome and appreciated

We investigate the magnetic-field dependent evolution of the zero-bias conductance peaks (ZBCPs) on the nanoscale bismuth islands grown on the FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$ substrate. The ZBCPs can be observed throughout the entire region on these islands, and their characteristics align with the signatures of Majorana zero modes. Remarkably, the evolution of ZBCPs on these islands exhibits anomalous behavior under varying magnetic fields: The magnitude of ZBCPs is first enhanced at weak fields lower than 2 T and then suppressed as the fields further increase. We attribute the non-monotonic evolution of the ZBCPs to the magnetic-field-enhanced topological edge states on these Bi islands. Our findings provide valuable insights into the probable origin of the Majorana zero modes in the Bi-island platform and the magnetic-field response of topological edge states., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

There is a common belief that superconductivity and charge density wave (CDW) order accommodate homogenously in real space but compete with each other for the effective density of states in momentum space in CDW superconductors. By measuring resistivity along the $c$-axis in Cs(V$_{1-x}$Ta$_{x}$)$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$, we observe strong superconducting fluctuation behavior coexisting with the CDW order in the pristine CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$, and the fluctuation region becomes narrowed when the Ta doping suppresses the CDW order. The onset transition temperature barely changes with the Ta doping. Therefore, the bulk superconductivity may be established by a doping-independent local pairing, and it can be suppressed in some regions by the spatially variable CDW order along the $c$-axis. Our results violate the above-mentioned belief about CDW superconductors and demonstrate the intricate interaction between superconductivity and CDW order in this kagome superconductor., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

By measuring magnetizations of pristine and Ta-doped CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ single crystals, we have carried out systematic studies on the lower critical field, critical current density, and equilibrium magnetization of this kagome system. The lower critical field has been investigated in the two typical samples, and the temperature dependent lower critical field obtained in Ta-doped sample can be fitted by using the model with two $s$-wave superconducting gaps yielding the larger gap of $2\Delta_{s1}/k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}=7.9\;(\pm1.8)$. This indicates a strong-coupling feature of the V-based superconductors. The measured magnetization hysteresis loops allow us to calculate the critical current density, which shows a very weak bulk vortex pinning. The magnetization hysteresis loops measured in these two kinds of samples can be well described by a recently proposed generalized phenomenological model, which leads to the determination of many fundamental parameters for these superconductors. Our systematic results and detailed analysis conclude that this V-based kagome system has features of strong-coupling superconductivity, relatively large Ginzburg-Landau parameter and weak vortex coupling., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

In cuprate superconductors, the highest superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ is possessed by the HgBa$_2$Ca$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{8+\delta}$ (Hg-1223) system at ambient pressure, but the reason remains elusive. Here we report the scanning tunneling microscope measurements on the Hg-1223 single crystals with $T_c$ = 134 K. The observed superconducting gaps determined from the tunneling spectra can be categorized into two groups: the smaller gap $\Delta_1$ ranges from about 45 to 70 meV, while the larger gap $\Delta_2$ from about 65 to 98 meV. The observed unprecedentedly large gap value gives a straightforward explanation to the highest $T_c$ in the Hg-1223 system. The largest gap observed here is comparable to the magnetic superexchange energy and excludes any possibility of using phonon pictures to interpret the superconductivity. Interestingly, an extremely strong particle-hole asymmetry is observed in associating with a very robust coherence peak at the bias of the larger gap in the hole branch of the Bogoliubov dispersion. We propose that the observed asymmetry results from the interplay of a flat band (van Hove singularity) in the electronic spectrum and the large superconducting gap in the underdoped layer. This could be the main reason for the strong pairing, and significant enhancement of the density of states in the hole branch of the Bogoliubov band yielding strong phase coherence of Cooper pairs. A scenario based on a trilayer model with an interlayer coupling can give a reasonable explanation. Our results provide deep insight into understanding the mechanism of superconductivity in cuprate superconductors., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures

By measuring the dynamical and conventional magnetization relaxation of the Ba$_{0.64}$K$_{0.36}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals, we found strong second peak effect on the magnetization hysteresis loops. It is found that there is a kink of magnetization at a field between the valley and maximum magnetization. Interestingly, the magnetization relaxation rate has a deep minimum at the field with the kink, indicating a diminished vortex creep. The relaxation rate at this field is clearly smaller than the so-called universal lower limit of the relaxation rate characterized by ($S_0\approx \ Gi^{1/2}(T/T_\mathrm{c}$). This diminished vortex creep is associated with the origin of the SMP effect and attributed to the strongly hindered flux motion when experiencing the transition from the quasi-ordered to disordered vortex phases., Comment: 5 figures

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity near 80 K in bilayer nickelate La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ under high pressures has renewed the exploration of superconducting nickelate in bulk materials. The extension of superconductivity in other nickelates in a broader family is also essential. Here, we report the experimental observation of superconducting signature in trilayer nickelate La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ under high pressures. By using a modified sol-gel method and post-annealing treatment under high oxygen pressure, we successfully obtained polycrystalline La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ samples with different transport behaviors at ambient pressure. Then we performed high-pressure electrical resistance measurements on these samples in a diamond-anvil-cell (DAC) apparatus. Surprisingly, the signature of possible superconducting transition with a maximum transition temperature ($T_\text{c}$) of about 20 K under high pressures is observed, as evidenced by a clear drop of resistance and the suppression of resistance drops under magnetic fields. Although the resistance drop is sample-dependent and relatively small, it appears in all of our measured samples. We argue that the observed superconducting signal is most likely to originate from the main phase of La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$. Our findings will motivate the exploration of superconductivity in a broader family of nickelates and shed light on the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of high-$T_\text{c}$ superconductivity in nickelates., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures

Specific heat can explore low-energy quasiparticle excitations of superconductors, so it is a powerful tool for bulk measurement on the superconducting gap structure and pairing symmetry. Here, we report an in-depth investigation on the specific heat of the multiband superconductors KCa$_2$(Fe$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$)$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ ($x$ = 0, 0.05, 0.13) single crystals and the overdoped non-superconducting one with $x$ = 0.17. Clear specific heat anomalies can be observed at the superconducting transition temperature of 33.6 K and 28.8 K for the samples with $x$ = 0 and $x$ = 0.05, respectively. For the two samples, the magnetic field induced specific heat coefficient $\Delta\gamma(H)$ in the low-temperature limit increases rapidly below 2 T, then it rises slowly above 2 T. Using the non-superconducting sample with $x$ = 0.17 as a reference, the specific heat of phonon background for various superconducting samples can be obtained and subtracted, which allows us to extract the electronic specific heat of the superconducting samples. Through comparative analyses, it is found that the energy gap structure including two $s$-wave gaps and an extended $s$-wave gap with large anisotropy can reasonably describe the electronic specific heat data. According to these results, we suggest that at least one anisotropic superconducting gap with a deep gap minimum should exist in this multiband system. With the doping of Ni, the superconducting transition temperature of the sample decreases along with the decrease of the large $s$-wave gap, but the extended $s$-wave gap increases due to the enlarged electron pockets via adding more electrons. Despite these changes, the general properties of the gap structure remain unchanged versus doping Ni.

The kagome lattice is very attractive as it can host many novel quantum states, such as the charge density wave, superconductivity, quantum spin liquid, etc. Meanwhile, iridates often exhibit a strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect due to the large atomic mass of 5$d$ elements, which has important implications for both the energy bands and the pairing symmetry of superconductors. For the Laves phase superconductor Sc$_2$Ir$_4$ with a kagome lattice, by doping Si to the Ir sites, we observed a nonmonotonic and two-dome like doping dependence of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$, which is typically found in many unconventional superconducting systems. Interestingly, for some samples, especially Sc$_2$Ir$_{3.5}$Si$_{0.5}$ with the optimal $T_{\rm c}$, after the suppression of superconductivity, the normal-state resistivity exhibits a semiconducting behavior; meanwhile, the specific heat coefficient shows an upturn which follows the relation $C/T\propto{\rm ln}(T_0/T)$ at low temperatures. Around the optimal doping, the resistance measurements exhibit strong superconducting fluctuations. And the superconductivity related specific heat can be fitted by the model of a $d$-wave gap after subtracting the normal-state background. These strongly suggest unconventional superconductivity and correlation effect in the samples, which is mainly induced by a flat band near the Fermi level when considering the SOC, as supported by the first-principles calculations. Our results reveal a new unconventional superconducting system Sc$_2$Ir$_{4-x}$Si$_x$ with strong correlation effects induced by the flat band in the kagome system with strong SOC.

Understanding the doping evolution from a Mott insulator to a superconductor probably holds the key for resolving the mystery of unconventional superconductivity in copper oxides. To elucidate the evolution of the electronic state starting from the Mott insulator, we dose the surface of the parent phase Ca$_{2}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$ by depositing one monolayer thin film of Rb atoms which are supposed to donate electrons to the CuO$_{2}$ planes underneath. We successfully achieved the Rb thin films with periodic structures, and the scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy (STM or STS) measurements on the surface show that the Fermi energy is pinned within the Mott gap but more close to the edge of the charge transfer band (CTB). However, the electron doping does not reduce the spectra weight of the upper Hubbard band (UHB) for the double occupancy as expected from the rigid model, but instead increase it; meanwhile, further doping will create a new wide spread in gap states derivative from the UHB, and the Mott gap will be significantly diminished. Our results provide new clues to understand the strong correlation effect of parent Mott insulators for cuprates and shed new light on the origin of high-temperature superconductivity.

Using scanning tunnel microscopy (STM), we investigate the superconductivity and vortex properties in topological insulator Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ thin films grown on the iron-based superconductor FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$. The proximity-induced superconductivity weakens in the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film when the thickness of the film increases. Unlike the elongated shape of vortex cores observed in the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film with 2-quintuple-layer (QL) thickness, the isolated vortex cores exhibit a star shape with six rays in the 1-QL film, and the rays are along the crystalline axes of the film. This is consistent with the sixfold rotational symmetry of the film lattice, and the proximity-induced superconductivity is still topologically trivial in the 1-QL film. At a high magnetic field, when the direction between the two nearest neighbored vortices deviates from that of any crystalline axes, two cores connect each other by a pair of adjacent rays, forming a new type of electronic structure of vortex cores. On the 3-QL film, the vortex cores elongate along one of the crystalline axes of the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film, similar to the results obtained on 2-QL films. The elongated vortex cores indicate a twofold symmetry of the superconducting gap induced by topological superconductivity with odd parity. This observation confirms possible topological superconductivity in heterostructures with a thickness of more than 2 QLs. Our results provide rich information for the vortex cores and vortex-bound states on the heterostructures consisting of the topological insulator and the iron-based superconductor., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures

Recent claim of discovering above-room-temperature superconductivity (Tc about 400 K) at ambient pressure in copper doped apatite $Pb_{10}\left( PO_4 \right) _6O$ has stimulated world-wide enthusiasm and impulse of motion. A lot of follow-up works have been carried out with controversial conclusions. To check whether superconductivity is really present or absent in the material, we need samples which should have a rather pure phase of $Pb_{10-x}Cu_x\left( PO_4 \right) _6O$. Here we report the characterization results from the $Pb_{10-x}Cu_x\left( PO_4 \right) _6O$ with a fraction of about 97 wt.% inferred from the fitting to the x-ray diffraction pattern. The resistivity measurements show that it is a semiconductor characterized roughly by a ln(1/T) temperature dependence in wide temperature region without trace of superconductivity. Magnetization measurements show that it has a general ferromagnetic signal with a weak superparamagnetic background. Many grains of the sample show clear interactions with a NbFeB magnet. The detected Cu concentration is much lower than the expected nominal one and the conduction may be improved if more Cu atoms are successfully doped into the system. Our results show the absence of metallicity and superconductivity in $Pb_{10-x}Cu_x\left( PO_4 \right) _6O$ at ambient pressure, and suggest the presence of strong correlation effect., Comment: 6 Pages,5 figures

The discovery of superconductivity with a critical temperature of about 80~K in La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ single crystals under pressure has received enormous attention. La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ is not superconducting under ambient pressure but exhibits a transition at $T^{\ast} \simeq 115$~K. Understanding the electronic correlations and charge dynamics is an important step towards the origin of superconductivity and other instabilities. Here, our optical study shows that La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ features strong electronic correlations which significantly reduce the electron's kinetic energy and place this system in the proximity of the Mott phase. The low-frequency optical conductivity reveals two Drude components arising from multiple bands at the Fermi level. The transition at $T^{\ast}$ removes the Drude component exhibiting non-Fermi liquid behavior, whereas the one with Fermi-liquid behavior is barely affected. These observations in combination with theoretical results suggest that the Fermi surface dominated by the Ni-$d_{3z^{2}-r^{2}}$ orbital is removed due to the transition at $T^{\ast}$. Our experimental results provide pivotal information for understanding the transition at $T^{\ast}$ and superconductivity in La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$., Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, Comments are welcome and appreciated

The research of high energy and nuclear physics requires high power accelerators, and the superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavity is regarded as their engine. Up to now, the widely used practical and effective material for making the SRF cavity is pure Nb. The key parameter that governs the efficiency and the accelerating field (E_acc) of a SRF cavity is the lower critical field Hc1. Here, we report a significant improvement of Hc1 for a new type of alloy, Nb_{1-x}Y_x fabricated by the arc melting technique. Experimental investigations with multiple tools including x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, resistivity and magnetization are carried out, showing that the samples have good quality and a 30%-60% enhancement of Hc1. First principle calculations indicate that this improvement is induced by the delicate tuning of a Lifshitz transition of a Nb derivative band near the Fermi energy, which increases the Ginzburg-Landau parameter and Hc1. Our results may trigger a replacement of the basic material and thus a potential revolution for manufacturing the SRF cavity., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

The pressure-induced color change in the nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride has triggered extensive discussions about the underlying physics. Here, we study the optical response of LuH$_{2 \pm x}$N$_{y}$ in a broad frequency range at ambient pressure and its evolution with pressure in the visible spectral range. The broad-band optical spectra at ambient pressure reveal a Drude component associated with intra-band electronic transitions and two Lorentz components (L1 and L2) arising from inter-band electronic transitions. The application of pressure causes a spectral weight transfer from L1 to the Drude component, leading to a blue shift of the plasma edge in the reflectivity spectrum alongside a reduction of the high-frequency reflectivity. Our results suggest that the pressure-induced color change in LuH$_{2 \pm x}$N$_{y}$ is closely related to the transformation between intra- and inter-band electronic transitions, providing new insights into the mechanism of the pressure-induced color change in LuH$_{2 \pm x}$N$_{y}$., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcome and appreciated

By applying pressures up to 42 GPa on the nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (LuH$_{2\pm\text{x}}$N$_y$), we have found a gradual change of color from dark-blue to pink-violet in the pressure region of about 12 GPa to 21 GPa. The temperature dependence of resistivity under pressures up to 50.5 GPa shows progressively optimized metallic behavior with pressure. Interestingly, in the pressure region for the color change, a clear decrease of resistivity is observed with the increase of pressure, which is accompanied by a clear increase of the residual resistivity ratio (RRR). Fitting to the low temperature resistivity gives exponents of about 2, suggesting a Fermi liquid behavior in low temperature region. The general behavior in wide temperature region suggests that the electron-phonon scattering is still the dominant one. The magnetoresistance up to 9 tesla in the state under a pressure of 50.5 GPa shows an almost negligible effect, which suggests that the electric conduction in the pink-violet state is dominated by a single band. It is highly desired to have theoretical efforts in understanding the evolution of color and resistivity in this interesting system., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures

Recently near-ambient superconductivity was claimed in N-doped lutetium hydride (ref. 1). This induces a worldwide fanaticism about the dream of room temperature superconductivity under low pressures. By using a high pressure and high temperature synthesis technique, we have successfully obtained the nitrogen doped lutetium hydride (LuH$_{2\pm\text{x}}$N$_y$) with a dark-bluish color and a structure with the space group of $Fm\bar{3}m$ evidenced by x-ray diffraction. This structure is the same as that reported in ref. 1. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the existence of nitrogen in some areas of the samples. At ambient pressure, we witness a kink of resistivity and magnetization at about 300 K, which may correspond to a rearrangement of hydrogen/nitrogen atoms, namely a structural transition. However, by applying a pressure from 1 GPa to 6 GPa, we have seen a progressively optimized metallic behavior without showing superconductivity down to 10 K. Temperature dependence of magnetization shows a roughly flat feature between 100 and 320 K, and the magnetization increases with magnetic field at 100 K, all these are not expected for superconductivity at 100 K. Thus, we conclude the absence of near-ambient superconductivity in this nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride under pressures below 6 GPa., Comment: An updated version with more data was published in Nature online on 11th May 2023 as an Accelerated Article Preview form

The transport and optical properties of the Nb-doped Cs(V$_{1-x}$Nb$_{x}$)$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ with x = 0.03 and 0.07 have been investigated and compared with those of the undoped CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$. Upon Nb doping, the charge-density wave (CDW) transition temperature $T_{\text{CDW}}$ is suppressed, and the superconducting temperature $T_{c}$ rises. The residual resistivity ratio decreases with Nb doping, suggesting an increase of disorder. For all compounds, the optical conductivity in the pristine phase reveals two Drude components (D1 and D2). The substitution of Nb causes an increase of D1 alongside a reduction of D2 in weight, which implies a change of the Fermi surface. The total Drude weight is reduced with increasing Nb content, signifying an enhancement of electronic correlations. Below $T_{\text{CDW}}$, while the optical conductivity clearly manifests the CDW gap in all materials, the gapped portion of the Fermi surface shrinks as the Nb content grows. A comprehensive analysis indicates that the change of the Fermi surface, the enhancement of electronic correlations, the shrinkage of the removed Fermi surface by the CDW gap, and the increase of disorder may all have a considerable impact on the interplay between the CDW and superconductivity in Cs(V$_{1-x}$Nb$_{x}$)$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

Resistivity and magnetization have been measured at different temperatures and magnetic fields in organic superconductors $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Br. The lower critical field and upper critical field are determined, which allow to depict a complete phase diagram. Through the comparison between the upper critical fields with magnetic field perpendicular and parallel to the conducting ac-planes, and the scaling of the in-plane resistivity with field along different directions, we found that the anisotropy $\Gamma$ is strongly temperature dependent. It is found that $\Gamma$ is quite large (above 20) near $T_{c}$, which satisfies the 2D model, but approaches a small value in the low-temperature region. The 2D-Tinkham model can also be used to fit the data at high temperatures. This is explained as a crossover from the orbital depairing mechanism in high-temperature and low-field region to the paramagnetic depairing mechanism in the high-field and low-temperature region. The temperature dependence of lower critical field $H_{c1} (T)$ shows a concave shape in wide temperature region. It is found that neither a single $d$-wave nor a single $s$-wave gap can fit the $H_{c1} (T)$, however a two-gap model containing an $s$-wave and a $d$-wave can fit the data rather well, suggesting two-band superconductivity and an unconventional pairing mechanism in this organic superconductor.

Iron-based superconductors have great potential for high-power applications due to their prominent high-field properties. One of the central issues in enhancing the critical current density of iron-based superconducting wires is to reveal the roles and limitations of grain boundaries in supercurrent transport. Here, we finely tuned the electronic properties of grain boundaries by doping Ba1-xKxFe2As2 superconductors in a wide range (0.25

The kagome metals $A$V$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ ($A$ = K, Rb, Cs) have attracted enormous interest as they exhibit intertwined charge-density wave (CDW) and superconductivity. The alkali-metal dependence of these characteristics contains pivotal information about the CDW and its interplay with superconductivity. Here, we report optical studies of $A$V$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ across the whole family. With increasing alkali-metal atom radius from K to Cs, the CDW gap increases monotonically, whereas $T_{\text{CDW}}$ first rises and then drops, at variance with conventional CDW. While the Fermi surface gapped by the CDW grows, $T_{c}$ is elevated in CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$, indicating that the interplay between the CDW and superconductivity is not simply a competition for the density of states near \EF. More importantly, we observe an enhancement of electronic correlations in CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$, which suppresses the CDW but enhances superconductivity, thus accounting for the above peculiar observations. Our results suggest electronic correlations as an important factor in manipulating the CDW and its entanglement with superconductivity in $A$V$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcome and appreciated

We use neutron powder diffraction to investigate the magnetic and crystalline structure of Cr$_2$GaN. A magnetic phase transition is identified at $T \approx 170$ K, whereas no trace of structural transition is observed down to 6 K. Combining Rietveld refinement with irreducible representations, the spin configuration of Cr ions in Cr$_2$GaN is depicted as an incommensurate sinusoidal modulated structure characterized by a propagating vector ${k}$=(0.365, 0.365, 0). Upon warming up to the paramagnetic state, the magnetic order parameter closely resembles to the temperature dependence of $c$-axis lattice parameter, suggesting strong magneto-elastic coupling in this compound. Therefore, Cr$_2$GaN provides a potential platform for the exploration of magnetically tuned properties such as magnetoelectric, magnetostrictive and magnetocaloric effects, as well as their applications., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

Superconducting state is achieved through quantum condensation of Cooper pairs which are new types of charge carriers other than single electrons in normal metals. The theory established by Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) in 1957 can successfully explain the phenomenon of superconductivity in many single-element and alloy superconductors. Within the BCS scheme, the Cooper pairs are formed by exchanging the virtual vibrations of lattice (phonons) between two electrons with opposite momentum near the Fermi surface. The BCS theory has dominated the field of superconductivity over 64 years. Many superconductors discovered in past four decades, such as the heavy Fermion superconductors, cuprates, iron pnictide/chalcogenide and nickelates seem, however, to strongly violate the BCS picture. The most important issue is that, perhaps the BCS picture based on electron-phonon coupling are the special case for superconductivity, there are a lot of other reasons or routes for the Cooper pairing and superconductivity. In this short overview paper, we will summarize part of these progresses and try to guide readers to some new possible schemes of superconductivity after the BCS paradigm. We also propose several empirical rules for the exploration of high-temperature unconventional superconductors., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Plenary Talk at ISS2021

The pairing mechanism of high temperature superconductivity in cuprates is regarded as one of the most challenging issues that we are facing now. The core issue is about how the Cooper pairs are formed. There are plenty pictures concerning the pairing manner, and some of them postulate local pairing of charge freedom through the strong correlation effect. Here we report the spin resolved tunnelling measurements on extremely underdoped Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6-delta. Our data reveal that, when holes are doped into the system, the antiferromagnetic order is destroyed together with the filling up of the charge transfer gap by some density of states (DOS) with a maximum at about 200 meV. Consequently, an electronic structure with 4a0x4a0 basic plaquettes gradually emerges, and they become more populated versus further hole doping. In the central part of each plaquette, there are three unidirectional bars (along the Cu-O bond) enlightened by the enhanced peaks of coherence-like DOS at about +-25 meV, and the intensity is especially pronounced at oxygen sites. For the first time, we reveal an internal nematic pattern of these pairing related states which exhibit a feature of precursor gap for superconductivity. We argue that this confined nematic state within one 4a0x4a0 plaquette constitutes naturally the local pairing format. Our work shed new light in unraveling the longstanding puzzle of pairing mechanism in cuprate superconductors., Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, plus Supplementary Materials 6 figures

Chromium (Cr) is a transition metal element with 3$d$ orbital electrons. In most compounds containing Cr, due to the correlation effect, twofold features of localization and itinerancy are expected. The localization gives rise to a magnetic moment, while the latter exhibits as the effective coherent weight for conductivity. Here we report the physical properties of Cr$_3$Ru compounds with bcc or A15 phases by using multiple experimental tools. The resistivity measurements show sharp superconducting transitions at $T_{\rm c}$ = 2.77 K and $T_{\rm c}$ = 3.37 K for the bcc and A15 structures. A high residual resistivity exists for both samples with the mean-free-path about 2 nm. Magnetization measurements also show rather narrow transitions, with a clear hump structure at high temperatures around 150 K, which may be ascribed to the remaining antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations. The specific heat coefficient reveals a clear jump at $T_{\rm c}$. We find that s-wave gaps can be adopted to fit the low temperature specific heat data yielding ratios of about $2\Delta/k_{\scriptscriptstyle B}T_{\rm c}$ $\approx$ 3.6, indicating a moderate pairing strength. Interestingly, the Wilson ratios are 3.81 and 3.62 for the bcc and A15 phases, suggesting a moderate correlation effect of conducting electron in the normal state. Besides, for samples with A15 structure, another specific heat anomaly occurs at about 0.85 K and is sensitive to magnetic fields. By applying high pressures, both system exhibit an enhancement of $T_{\rm c}$ with a rate of about 0.019 K/GPa and 0.013 K/GPa for the bcc and A15 phases. We also conduct tunneling spectrum measurements and found that the coherence peaks are strongly smeared out. The strong suppression to the coherence peaks may be ascribed to the strong scattering. Our combinatory results point to an unconventional superconductivity in these Cr based compounds.

Resistivity and Hall effect measurements have been carried out on a micro-fabricated bridge of Bi2201 single crystal at low temperatures down to 0.4 K under high magnetic fields. When superconductivity is crashed by a high magnetic field, the recovered "normal state" resistivity still shows a linear temperature dependence in low temperature region. Combining with the effective mass and the charge carrier density, we get a linear scattering rate $1/\tau = \alpha k_{B} T/\hbar$ with $0.77<\alpha<1.16$, which gives a strong evidence of the Planckian dissipation. Furthermore, our results reveal a new type of temperature dependence of upper critical field, $H_{c2}(T)=H^*\sqrt{(1-t)/(t+0.154)}$, which is totally different from the expectation of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, and suggests uncondensed Cooper pairs above $H_{c2}(T)$ line., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

The recently discovered coexistence of superconductivity and charge density wave order in the kagome systems AV3Sb5 (A = K, Rb, Cs) has stimulated enormous interest. According to theory, a vanadium-based kagome system may host a flat band, nontrivial linear dispersive Dirac surface states and electronic correlation. Despite intensive investigations, it remains controversial about the origin of the charge density wave (CDW) order, how does the superconductivity relate to the CDW, and whether the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) arises primarily from the kagome lattice or the CDW order. We report an extensive investigation on Cs(V1-xNbx)3Sb5 samples with systematic Nb doping. Our results show that the Nb doping induces apparent suppression of CDW order and promotes superconductivity; meanwhile, the AHE and magnetoresistance (MR) will be significantly weakened together with the CDW order. Combining with our density functional calculations, we interpret these effects by an antiphase shift of the Fermi energy with respect to the saddle points near M and the Fermi surface centered around {\Gamma}. It is found that the former depletes the filled states for the CDW instability and worsens the nesting condition for CDW order; while the latter lifts the Fermi level upward and enlarges the Fermi surface surrounding the {\Gamma} point, and thus promotes superconductivity. Our results uncover a delicate but unusual competition between the CDW order and superconductivity.

According to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, superconductivity usually needs well defined Fermi surface(s) with strong electron-phonon coupling and moderate quasiparticle density of states (DOS). A kagome lattice can host flat bands and topological Dirac bands; meanwhile, due to the parallel Fermi surfaces and the saddle points, many interesting orders are expected. Here, we report the observation of superconductivity by pressurizing a kagome compound Rb$_2$Pd$_3$Se$_4$ using a DAC anvil. The parent compound shows an insulating behavior; however, it gradually becomes metallic and turns to a superconducting state when a high pressure is applied. High pressure synchrotron measurements show that there is no structural transition occurring during this transition. The density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations illustrate that the insulating behavior of the parent phase is due to the crystalline field splitting of the partial Pd-4d $t_{2g}$ bands and the Se-derivative 4$p$-band. However, the threshold of metallicity and superconductivity are reached when the Lifshitz transition occurs, leading to the emergence of tiny Fermi surface at $\Gamma$ point. Our results point to an unconventional superconductivity and shed new light on understanding the electronic evolution of a kagome material., Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures

The charge-density wave (CDW) phase is often accompanied by the condensation of a soft acoustic phonon mode, giving rise to lattice distortion and charge density modulation. This picture was challenged for the recently discovered kagome metal CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, based on the evidence of absence of soft phonons. Here we report the observation of Raman-active CDW amplitude modes in this material, which are collective excitations typically thought to emerge out of frozen soft phonons. The amplitude modes strongly hybridize with other superlattice modes, imparting them with clear temperature-dependent frequency shift and broadening, rarely seen in other known CDW materials. Both the mode mixing and the large amplitude mode frequencies suggest that the CDW exhibits the character of strong electron-phonon coupling, a regime in which acoustic phonon softening can cease to exist. The observation of amplitude modes in the absence of soft phonons highlights the unconventional nature of the CDW in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$.

By using high pressure and high temperature (3.7 GPa, 1120 $^{\circ}$C) synthesis technique, we have grown (Cu,C)Ba$_2$Ca$_3$Cu$_4$O$_{11+\delta}$ single crystals. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, resistivity and magnetization measurements are carried out and all show that the samples have good quality. The single crystal has onset and zero-resistance transition temperatures of about 111 K and 109.6 K, indicating a very narrow transition width, which is consistent with a rather sharp magnetization transition. Magnetization hysteresis loops (MHLs) are also measured, showing a pronounced second peak effect in the intermediate temperature region. The magnetic critical current density calculated from the MHLs at 77 K and 1.5 T is about 6.4$\times$10$^4$ A/cm$^2$. By using a criterion of 1$\%$ normal state resistivity, we have determined the irreversibility line which exhibits an irreversibility field of about 8 T at 77 K. Compared with other layered systems, it is easy to find that the irreversibility line is rather high and could be further improved with the optimized transition temperature of about 118 K as previously discovered in polycrystalline samples., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication into Superconductor Science and Technology

The optical properties of KCa$_{2}$Fe$_{4}$As$_{4}$F$_{2}$ (K12442, $T_c = 33.5$~K) and KCa$_{2}$(Fe$_{0.95}$Ni$_{0.05}$)$_{4}$As$_{4}$F$_{2}$ (Ni-K12442, $T_c = 29$~K) have been examined at a large number of temperatures. For both samples, a nodeless superconducting gap is clearly observed in the optical conductivity at 5~K. The superconducting gap $\Delta \simeq 8.7$~meV ($2\Delta/k_{\text{B}}T_{c} \simeq 6.03$) in K12442, pointing towards strong-coupling Cooper pairs, but in sharp contrast, $\Delta \simeq 4.6$~meV ($2\Delta/k_{\text{B}}T_{c} \simeq 3.68$) in Ni-K12442, which agrees with the BCS weak-coupling pairing state. More intriguingly, below $T^{\ast} \simeq 75$~K, the optical conductivity of K12442 reveals a pseudogap that smoothly evolves into the superconducting gap below $T_{c}$, while no such behavior is detected in the electron-doped Ni-K12442. The comparison between the two samples hints that the pseudogap and strong-coupling Cooper pairs in K12442 may be intimately related to the shallow and incipient bands. We provide arguments supporting a preformed pairing mechanism of the pseudogap, but at the moment a magnetic scenario can not yet be excluded., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Comments are welcome and appreciated

Superconductivity has been discovered recently in nickel based 112 infinite thin films $R_{1-x}$A$_x$NiO$_2$ ($R$ = La, Nd, Pr and A = Sr, Ca). They are isostructural to the infinite-layer cuprate (Ca,Sr)CuO$_2$ and are supposed to have a formal Ni 3$d^9$ valence, thus providing a new platform to study the unconventional pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductors. This important discovery immediately triggers a huge amount of innovative scientific curiosity in the field. In this paper, we try to give an overview of the recent research progress on the newly found superconducting nickelate systems, both from experimental and theoretical aspects. We will focus mainly on the electronic structures, magnetic excitations, phase diagrams, superconducting gaps and finally make some open discussions for possible pairing symmetries in Ni based 112 systems., Comment: 53 pages,10 figures,submitted to The Innovation

A generalized phenomenological model for the critical state of type-II superconductors with magnetic field parallel to the superconducting plate is proposed. This model considers the global magnetization including both the equilibrium magnetization from surface screening current and the non-equilibrium magnetization from bulk pinning in a self-consistent way. Our model can be used to simulate the magnetization-hysteresis-loops (MHLs) and flux penetrating process of different type-II superconductors, from low- to high-kappa values. Here we take an optimally doped Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 single crystal as a testing example. The model can fit the data quite well and several important parameters can be extracted from the fitting. Thus, the model can be extended to a general case for studying the magnetization and flux penetration in other type-II superconductors., Comment: 13 pages,11 figures