Vortex dynamics in the two-dimensional BCS-BEC crossover.

Heyl, Max; Adachi, Kyosuke; Itahashi, Yuki M; Nakagawa, Yuji; Kasahara, Yuichi; List-Kratochvil, Emil J W; Kato, Yusuke; Iwasa, Yoshihiro · Nat Commun · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) condensation and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) are the two limiting ground states of paired Fermion systems, and the crossover between these two limits has been a source of excitement for both fields of high temperature superconductivity and cold atom superfluidity. For superconductors, ultra-low doping systems like graphene and Li<sub>x</sub>ZrNCl successfully approached the crossover starting from the BCS-side. These superconductors offer new opportunities to clarify the nature of charged-particles transport towards the BEC regime. Here we report the study of vortex dynamics within the crossover using their Hall effect as a probe in Li<sub>x</sub>ZrNCl. We observed a systematic enhancement of the Hall angle towards the BCS-BEC crossover, which was qualitatively reproduced by the phenomenological time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) theory. Li<sub>x</sub>ZrNCl exhibits a band structure free from various electronic instabilities, allowing us to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the vortex Hall effect and thereby propose a global picture of vortex dynamics within the crossover. These results demonstrate that gate-controlled superconductors are ideal platforms towards investigations of unexplored properties in BEC superconductors.