Interface-enhanced superconductivity in monolayer 1T′-MoTe2 on SrTiO3(001)

Abstract

Abstract Introducing superconductivity into two-dimensional (2D) films with nontrivial topology has been intensively pursued as one of the feasible scenarios to realize 1D topological superconductor. Prevailing endeavors mostly exploit the external gating or proximity effect of a traditional superconductor, by which the critical temperatures ( T c $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ ) are limited to several Kelvin range. Here, we report on the discovery of interface-enhanced superconductivity in monolayer 1T′-MoTe2 film. A thermally driven phase transition from Mo6Te6 nanowires to 1T′-MoTe2 films, grown on SrTiO3(001) surface by the molecular beam epitaxial methods, is demonstrated. A combined study of scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, electrical transport and magnetization measurements indicates the T c $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ of MoTe2 film is around 30 K, two orders of magnitude larger than its 3D counterpart crystal. This study shows that interfacial engineering is an efficient way to tune monolayer 1T′-MoTe2 film into superconducting states, and thus may pave the way toward higher- T c $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ 1D intrinsic topological superconductivity.

Keywords

• 2D materials
• Interfacial phenomena
• Superconductivity
• Scanning tunneling microscopy