English

High-$T_\textrm{C}$ Superconductivity Originating from Interlayer Coulomb Coupling in Gate-Charged Twisted Bilayer Graphene Moir$\'{e}$ Superlattices

Superconductivity 2019-08-06 v1

Abstract

Unconventional superconductivity in bilayer graphene has been reported for twist angles θ\theta near the first magic angle and charged electrostatically with holes near half filling of the lower flat bands. A maximum superconducting transition temperature TCT_\textrm{C} \approx 1.7 K was reported for a device with θ\theta = 1.05deg\deg at ambient pressure and a maximum TCT_\textrm{C} \approx 3.1 K for a device with θ\theta = 1.27deg\deg under 1.33 GPa hydrostatic pressure. A high-TCT_\textrm{C} model for the superconductivity is proposed herein, where pairing is mediated by Coulomb coupling between charges in the two graphene sheets. The expression derived for the optimal transition temperature, TC0T_\textrm{C0} = kB1k_\textrm{B}^{-1}Λ\Lambda(|noptn_\textrm{opt} - n0n_\textrm{0}|/2)1/2^{1/2}e2e^2/ζ\zeta, is a function of mean bilayer separation distance ζ\zeta, measured gated charge areal densities noptn_\textrm{opt} and n0n_\textrm{0} corresponding to maximum TCT_\textrm{C} and superconductivity onset, respectively, and the length constant Λ\Lambda = 0.00747(2) A˚\mathring{\textrm{A}}. Based on existing experimental carrier densities and theoretical estimates for ζ\zeta, TC0T_\textrm{C0} = 1.94(4) K is calculated for the θ\theta = 1.05deg\deg ambient-pressure device and TC0T_\textrm{C0} = 3.02(3) K for the θ\theta = 1.27deg\deg pressurized device. Experimental mean-field transition temperatures TCmfT_\textrm{C}^\textrm{mf} = 1.83(5) K and TCmfT_\textrm{C}^\textrm{mf} = 2.86(5) K are determined by fitting superconducting fluctuation theory to resistance transition data for the ambient-pressure and pressurized devices, respectively; the theoretical results for TC0T_\textrm{C0} are in remarkable agreement with these experimental values. Corresponding Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless temperatures TBKTT_\textrm{BKT} of 0.96(3) K and 2.2(2) K are also determined and interpreted.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1908.01208,
  title  = {High-$T_\textrm{C}$ Superconductivity Originating from Interlayer Coulomb Coupling in Gate-Charged Twisted Bilayer Graphene Moir$\'{e}$ Superlattices},
  author = {Dale R. Harshman and Anthony T. Fiory},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.01208},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

12 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures, 93 references