Doping-Induced Quantum Spin Hall Insulator to Superconductor Transition

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 May 21;126(20):205701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.205701.

Abstract

A quantum spin Hall insulating state that arises from spontaneous symmetry breaking has remarkable properties: skyrmion textures of the SO(3) order parameter carry charge 2e. Doping this state of matter opens a new route to superconductivity via the condensation of skyrmions. We define a model amenable to large-scale negative sign free quantum Monte Carlo simulations that allows us to study this transition. Our results support a direct and continuous doping-induced transition between the quantum spin Hall insulator and an s-wave superconductor. We can resolve dopings away from half-filling down to δ=0.0017. Such routes to superconductivity have been put forward in the realm of twisted bilayer graphene.