Tip-induced superconductivity coexisting with preserved topological properties in line-nodal semimetal ZrSiS. (5th September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aggarwal, Leena; Singh, Chandan K; Aslam, Mohammad; Singha, Ratnadwip; Pariari, Arnab; Gayen, Sirshendu; Kabir, Mukul; Mandal, Prabhat; Sheet, Goutam
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 31:Number 48(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09-05
• Subjects: topological material -- point-contact spectroscopy -- tip-induced superconductivity; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ab3b61
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: ZrSiS was recently shown to be a new material with topologically non-trivial band structure that exhibits multiple Dirac nodes and a robust linear band dispersion up to an unusually high energy of 2 eV. Such a robust linear dispersion makes the topological properties of ZrSiS insensitive to perturbations like carrier doping or lattice distortion. Here, we show that a novel superconducting phase with a remarkably high of 7.5 K can be induced in single crystals of ZrSiS by a non-superconducting metallic tip of Ag. From first-principles calculations, we show that the observed superconducting phase might originate from a dramatic enhancement of density of states due to the presence of a metallic tip on ZrSiS. Our calculations also show that the emerging tip-induced superconducting phase co-exists with the well preserved topological properties of ZrSiS.