Superconductivity in Potassium-Intercalated T <sub>d</sub>-WTe<sub>2</sub>.

Zhu, Li; Li, Qi-Yuan; Lv, Yang-Yang; Li, Shichao; Zhu, Xin-Yang; Jia, Zhen-Yu; Chen, Y B; Wen, Jinsheng et al. · Nano Lett · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

To realize a topological superconductor is one of the most attracting topics because of its great potential in quantum computation. In this study, we successfully intercalate potassium (K) into the van der Waals gap of type II Weyl semimetal WTe<sub>2</sub> and discover the superconducting state in K <sub>x</sub>WTe<sub>2</sub> through both electrical transport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. The superconductivity exhibits an evident anisotropic behavior. Moreover, we also uncover the coexistence of superconductivity and the positive magnetoresistance state. Structural analysis substantiates the negligible lattice expansion induced by the intercalation, therefore suggesting K-intercalated WTe<sub>2</sub> still hosts the topological nontrivial state. These results indicate that the K-intercalated WTe<sub>2</sub> may be a promising candidate to explore the topological superconductor.