Abstract

The emergent phenomena such as superconductivity and topological phase transitions can be observed in strict two-dimensional (2D) crystalline matters. Artificial interfaces and one atomic thickness layers are typical 2D materials of this kind. Although having 2D characters, most bulky layered compounds, however, do not possess these striking properties. Here, we report quasi-2D superconductivity in bulky AuTe2Se4/3, where the reduction in dimensionality is achieved through inducing the elongated covalent Te–Te bonds. The atomic-resolution images reveal that the Au, Te, and Se are atomically ordered in a cube, among which are Te–Te bonds of 3.18 and 3.28 Å. The superconductivity at 2.85 K is discovered, which is unraveled to be the quasi-2D nature owing to the Berezinsky–Kosterlitz–Thouless topological transition. The nesting of nearly parallel Fermi sheets could give rise to strong electron–phonon coupling. It is proposed that further depleting the thickness could result in more topologically-related phenomena.

Details

Title
Quasi-two-dimensional superconductivity from dimerization of atomically ordered AuTe2Se4/3 cubes
Author
Guo, J G 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chen, X 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Jia, X Y 3 ; Zhang, Q H 1 ; Liu, N 2 ; Lei, H C 4 ; Li, S Y 5 ; L Gu 6 ; Jin, S F 7 ; Chen, X L 6 

1  Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
2  Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
3  State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, China 
4  Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Opto-electronic Functional Materials and Micro-nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China 
5  State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing, China 
6  Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing, China 
7  Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Oct 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00947-0
ProQuest document ID
1950037124
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.