Superconductivity in Potassium-Intercalated T d-WTe2

Nano Lett. 2018 Oct 10;18(10):6585-6590. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03180. Epub 2018 Sep 20.

Abstract

To realize a topological superconductor is one of the most attracting topics because of its great potential in quantum computation. In this study, we successfully intercalate potassium (K) into the van der Waals gap of type II Weyl semimetal WTe2 and discover the superconducting state in K xWTe2 through both electrical transport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. The superconductivity exhibits an evident anisotropic behavior. Moreover, we also uncover the coexistence of superconductivity and the positive magnetoresistance state. Structural analysis substantiates the negligible lattice expansion induced by the intercalation, therefore suggesting K-intercalated WTe2 still hosts the topological nontrivial state. These results indicate that the K-intercalated WTe2 may be a promising candidate to explore the topological superconductor.

Keywords: Superconductivity; WTe2; electrical transport; intercalation; scanning tunneling microscopy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't