Superconductivity in few-layer stanene

A single atomic slice of α-tin—stanene—has been predicted to host the quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature, offering an ideal platform to study low-dimensional and topological physics. Although recent research has focused on monolayer stanene, the quantum size effect in few-layer stanene cou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2018-04, Vol.14 (4), p.344-348
Main Authors: Liao, Menghan, Zang, Yunyi, Guan, Zhaoyong, Li, Haiwei, Gong, Yan, Zhu, Kejing, Hu, Xiao-Peng, Zhang, Ding, Xu, Yong, Wang, Ya-Yu, He, Ke, Ma, Xu-Cun, Zhang, Shou-Cheng, Xue, Qi-Kun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic structure
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
First principles
Hall effect
Intermetallic compounds
Lead tellurides
Magnetic fields
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Molecular beam epitaxy
Photoelectric emission
Physics
Size effects
Spectrum analysis
Substrates
Superconducting properties and materials
Superconductivity
Superconductors
Tin
Topological matter
Topological superconductors
Transition temperature
Transition temperatures
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Summary:A single atomic slice of α-tin—stanene—has been predicted to host the quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature, offering an ideal platform to study low-dimensional and topological physics. Although recent research has focused on monolayer stanene, the quantum size effect in few-layer stanene could profoundly change material properties, but remains unexplored. By exploring the layer degree of freedom, we discover superconductivity in few-layer stanene down to a bilayer grown on PbTe, while bulk α-tin is not superconductive. Through substrate engineering, we further realize a transition from a single-band to a two-band superconductor with a doubling of the transition temperature. In situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) together with first-principles calculations elucidate the corresponding band structure. The theory also indicates the existence of a topologically non-trivial band. Our experimental findings open up novel strategies for constructing two-dimensional topological superconductors.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/s41567-017-0031-6