Measurement of Superconductivity and Edge States in Topological Superconductor Candidate TaSe$_{3}$

doi:10.1088/0256-307X/38/7/077302

Chin. Phys. Lett.

2021, Vol. 38

Issue (7): 077302 DOI: 10.1088/0256-307X/38/7/077302

CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES

Measurement of Superconductivity and Edge States in Topological Superconductor Candidate TaSe$_{3}$

Shuai Liu^1,2,3, Si-Min Nie⁴, Yan-Peng Qi¹, Yan-Feng Guo¹, Hong-Tao Yuan⁵, Le-Xian Yang^6,7, Yu-Lin Chen^1,8,9, Mei-Xiao Wang^1,9*, and Zhong-Kai Liu^1,9*

¹School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
²Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
³University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
⁴Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
⁵National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
⁶State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
⁷Frontier Science Center for Quantum Information, Beijing 100084, China
⁸Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK
⁹ShanghaiTech Laboratory for Topological Physics, Shanghai 201210, China

Cite this article:

Shuai Liu, Si-Min Nie, Yan-Peng Qi et al 2021 Chin. Phys. Lett. 38 077302

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Abstract Topological superconductors (TSCs) have been widely investigated in recent years due to their novel physics and ability to host Majorana fermions (MFs) which are key to topological quantum computation. Despite the great interest, only a few compounds have been proposed as candidates of intrinsic TSCs, such as iron-based superconductor FeSe$_{0.55}$Te$_{0.45}$ and 2M-WS$_{2}$. Among them, quasi-one-dimensional superconductor TaSe$_{3}$ possesses fascinating properties such as its simple stoichiometry, layered nature and chemical stability. Here, using scanning tunneling microscope/spectroscopy (STM/STS), we systematically investigate the topography and electronic structure of TaSe$_{3}$. Our STM/STS measurement reveals large atomically flat, defect-free surfaces suitable for the search of MF; electronic density of states consistent with our angle-resolved photoemission result and band-structure calculations, and a uniform superconducting gap with a typical size of $\sim $0.25 meV. Remarkably, additional edge states are observed in the vicinity of the terrace edge, suggesting they may have a topological origin. Our result proves the coexistence of superconductivity and topological electronic structure in TaSe$_{3}$, making it an intriguing platform to investigate topological superconductivity.

Received: 29 March 2021 Published: 05 July 2021

PACS:	73.20.-r	(Electron states at surfaces and interfaces)
	71.20.-b	(Electron density of states and band structure of crystalline solids)
	74.70.Xa	(Pnictides and chalcogenides)
	74.55.+v	(Tunneling phenomena: single particle tunneling and STM)

Fund: Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFA0305400), the Shanghai Technology Innovation Action Plan 2020-Integrated Circuit Technology Support Program (Grant No. 20DZ1100605), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52072168, 21733001, 51861145201, U1932217, and 11974246), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0306200), and the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No. 19JC1413900).

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https://cpl.iphy.ac.cn/10.1088/0256-307X/38/7/077302 OR https://cpl.iphy.ac.cn/Y2021/V38/I7/077302

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	Shuai Liu
	Si-Min Nie
	Yan-Peng Qi
	Yan-Feng Guo
	Hong-Tao Yuan
	Le-Xian Yang
	Yu-Lin Chen
	Mei-Xiao Wang
	and Zhong-Kai Liu

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