Signatures of the topological s +- superconducting order parameter in the type-II Weyl semimetal T d-MoTe2

Z. Guguchia, F. Von Rohr, Z. Shermadini, A. T. Lee, S. Banerjee, A. R. Wieteska, C. A. Marianetti, B. A. Frandsen, H. Luetkens, Z. Gong, S. C. Cheung, C. Baines, A. Shengelaya, G. Taniashvili, A. N. Pasupathy, E. Morenzoni, S. J.L. Billinge, A. Amato, R. J. Cava, R. KhasanovY. J. Uemura

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103 Scopus citations

Abstract

In its orthorhombic T d polymorph, MoTe2 is a type-II Weyl semimetal, where the Weyl fermions emerge at the boundary between electron and hole pockets. Non-saturating magnetoresistance and superconductivity were also observed in T d-MoTe2. Understanding the superconductivity in T d-MoTe2, which was proposed to be topologically non-trivial, is of eminent interest. Here, we report high-pressure muon-spin rotation experiments probing the temperature-dependent magnetic penetration depth in T d-MoTe2. A substantial increase of the superfluid density and a linear scaling with the superconducting critical temperature T c is observed under pressure. Moreover, the superconducting order parameter in T d-MoTe2 is determined to have 2-gap s-wave symmetry. We also exclude time-reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state with zero-field μSR experiments. Considering the strong suppression of T c in MoTe2 by disorder, we suggest that topologically non-trivial s +- state is more likely to be realized in MoTe2 than the topologically trivial s ++ state.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1082
JournalNature communications
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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