Using controlled disorder to probe the interplay between charge order and superconductivity in NbSe2

Abstract The interplay between superconductivity and charge-density wave (CDW) in 2 H -NbSe 2 is not fully understood despite decades of study. Artificially introduced disorder can tip the delicate balance between two competing long-range orders, and reveal the underlying interactions that give rise...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature communications 2018-07, Vol.9 (1), p.1-9, Article 2796
Main Authors:	Cho, Kyuil, Kończykowski, M., Teknowijoyo, S., Tanatar, M. A., Guss, J., Gartin, P. B., Wilde, J. M., Kreyssig, A., McQueeney, R. J., Goldman, A. I., Mishra, V., Hirschfeld, P. J., Prozorov, R.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Charge density waves Electrical resistivity Electron irradiation Irradiation Penetration depth Radiation dosage Superconductivity Temperature Transition temperature Transition temperatures X ray scattering
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Summary:	Abstract The interplay between superconductivity and charge-density wave (CDW) in 2 H -NbSe 2 is not fully understood despite decades of study. Artificially introduced disorder can tip the delicate balance between two competing long-range orders, and reveal the underlying interactions that give rise to them. Here we introduce disorder by electron irradiation and measure in-plane resistivity, Hall resistivity, X-ray scattering, and London penetration depth. With increasing disorder, the superconducting transition temperature, T c , varies non-monotonically, whereas the CDW transition temperature, T CDW , monotonically decreases and becomes unresolvable above a critical irradiation dose where T c drops sharply. Our results imply that the CDW order initially competes with superconductivity, but eventually assists it. We argue that at the transition where the long-range CDW order disappears, the cooperation with superconductivity is dramatically suppressed. X-ray scattering and Hall resistivity measurements reveal that the short-range CDW survives above the transition. Superconductivity persists to much higher dose levels, consistent with fully gapped superconductivity and moderate interband pairing.
ISSN:	2041-1723 2041-1723