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Transport evidence of asymmetric spin-orbit coupling in few-layer superconducting 1Td-MoTe2.

Jian CuiPeiling LiJiadong ZhouWen-Yu HeXiangwei HuangJian YiJie FanZhongqing JiXiunian JingFanming QuZhi Gang ChengChangli YangLi LuKazu SuenagaJunwei LiuKam Tuen LawJunhao LinZheng LiuGuangtong Liu
Published in: Nature communications (2019)
Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = W, Mo, Nb, and X = Te, Se, S) with strong spin-orbit coupling possess plenty of novel physics including superconductivity. Due to the Ising spin-orbit coupling, monolayer NbSe2 and gated MoS2 of 2H structure can realize the Ising superconductivity, which manifests itself with in-plane upper critical field far exceeding Pauli paramagnetic limit. Surprisingly, we find that a few-layer 1Td structure MoTe2 also exhibits an in-plane upper critical field which goes beyond the Pauli paramagnetic limit. Importantly, the in-plane upper critical field shows an emergent two-fold symmetry which is different from the isotropic in-plane upper critical field in 2H transition metal dichalcogenides. We show that this is a result of an asymmetric spin-orbit coupling in 1Td transition metal dichalcogenides. Our work provides transport evidence of a new type of asymmetric spin-orbit coupling in transition metal dichalcogenides which may give rise to novel superconducting and spin transport properties.
Keyphrases
  • transition metal
  • room temperature
  • electron transfer
  • single molecule