MRS Meetings and Events

 

QT10.05.04 2022 MRS Spring Meeting

Evidence for Flat Band Dirac Superconductor Originating from Quantum Geometry

When and Where

May 12, 2022
9:00am - 9:30am

Hawai'i Convention Center, Level 3, 305A

Presenter

Co-Author(s)

Chun Ning (Jeanie) Lau1

The Ohio State University1

Abstract

Chun Ning (Jeanie) Lau1

The Ohio State University1
In a flat band superconductor, the charge carriers’ group velocity vF is extremely slow, quenching their kinetic energy. The emergence of superconductivity thus appears paradoxical, as conventional BCS theory implies a vanishing coherence length, superfluid stiffness, and critical current. Here, using twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG), we explore the profound effect of vanishingly small vF in a Dirac superconducting flat band system. Using Schwinger-limited non-linear transport studies, we demonstrate an extremely slow vF ~ 1000 m/s for filling fraction n between -1/2 and -3/4 of the moiré superlattice. In the superconducting state, the same velocity limit constitutes a new limiting mechanism for the critical current, analogous to a relativistic superfluid. Importantly, our measurement of superfluid stiffness, which controls the superconductor’s electrodynamic response, shows that it is not dominated by the kinetic energy, but instead by the interaction-driven superconducting gap, consistent with recent theories on a quantum geometric contribution. We find evidence for small pairs, characteristic of the BCS to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) crossover, with an unprecedented ratio of the superconducting transition temperature to the Fermi temperature exceeding unity. Our results places tBLG in the regime of very strong coupling superconductivity, and underscores the important role played by quantum geometry in flat-band systems.

Symposium Organizers

Giulia Pacchioni, Nature Reviews Materials
Dmitri Efetov, Institut de Ciències Fotôiques
Jia Leo Li, Brown University
Matthew Yankowitz, University of Washington

Symposium Support

Platinum
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Bronze
Scienta Omicron, Inc.

Publishing Alliance

MRS publishes with Springer Nature