Cavity-altered superconductivity
Nature, vol. 650, pp. 864–868
Abstract
Is it feasible to alter the ground-state properties of a material by engineering its electromagnetic environment? Inspired by theoretical predictions1–12, experimental realizations of such cavity-controlled properties without optical excitation are beginning to emerge13–19. Here we devised and implemented a new platform to realize cavity-altered materials. Single crystals of hyperbolic van der Waals (vdW) compounds provide a resonant electromagnetic environment with enhanced density of photonic states and prominent mode confinement20–24. We interfaced hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with the molecular superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br (κ-ET). The frequencies of infrared hyperbolic modes (HMs) of hBN (refs. 25,26) match the infrared-active carbon–carbon (C=C) stretching molecular resonance of κ-ET implicated in superconductivity27. Nano-optical data supported by first-principles molecular Langevin dynamics simulations confirm the presence of resonant coupling between the hBN hyperbolic cavity modes and the C=C stretching mode in κ-ET. Meissner-effect measurements using magnetic force microscopy (MFM) demonstrate a strong suppression of superfluid density near the hBN/κ-ET interface. Non-resonant control heterostructures, including RuCl3/κ-ET and hBN/Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (BSCCO), do not show the pronounced superfluid suppression. These observations suggest that hBN/κ-ET realizes a cavity-altered superconducting ground state. Our work highlights the potential of dark cavities devoid of external photons for engineering electronic ground-state properties of complex quantum materials. A new platform making use of hexagonal boron nitride interfaced with the molecular superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br is demonstrated for realizing cavity-altered materials, confirmed by magnetic force microscopy and nano-optical measurements.
Authors 34
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Itai Keren corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. ik2561@columbia.edu
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Tatiana A. Webb corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. tw2864@columbia.edu
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. szhangphysics@gmail.com
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Shuai Zhang corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. szhangphysics@gmail.com
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Photon Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, Republic of Korea
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. szhangphysics@gmail.com
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Songtian Sonia Zhang corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. szhangphysics@gmail.com
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Brookhaven National Laboratory · Stony Brook University
Affiliation as printed
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter · Columbia University
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
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Intellectual Ventures (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Deep Science Fund, Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA, USA
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Intellectual Ventures (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Deep Science Fund, Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA, USA
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Intellectual Ventures (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Deep Science Fund, Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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University of Stuttgart · Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research · The University of Tokyo
Affiliation as printed
Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Germany
Physics Institute, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
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Brookhaven National Laboratory
Affiliation as printed
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
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University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Affiliation as printed
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Affiliation as printed
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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University of Oxford · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter · RWTH Aachen University
Affiliation as printed
Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik, RWTH Aachen University, and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, Aachen, Germany
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Flatiron Institute · Columbia University
Affiliation as printed
Center for Computational Quantum Physics, The Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Brookhaven National Laboratory · Stony Brook University
Affiliation as printed
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
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University of Bremen · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Affiliation as printed
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter · Flatiron Institute
Affiliation as printed
Initiative for Computational Catalysis, The Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
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Brookhaven National Laboratory · Columbia University
Affiliation as printed
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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D. N. Basov corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. db3056@columbia.edu
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