Electrochemical synthesis and superconducting phase diagram of Cu_xBi2Se3

TL;DR

This paper details an electrochemical method to synthesize Cu_xBi_2Se_3, maps its superconducting phase diagram, and reveals tendencies for spontaneous formation of superconducting islands, advancing understanding of topological superconductors.

Contribution

It provides a detailed synthesis technique and the superconducting phase diagram of Cu_xBi_2Se_3, highlighting the spontaneous formation of superconducting islands.

Findings

Superconducting Cu_xBi_2Se_3 synthesized with up to 50% shielding fraction.

Established phase diagram of T_c versus Cu content x.

Evidence of spontaneous formation of superconducting islands.

Abstract

The superconducting Cu_xBi_2Se_3 is an electron-doped topological insulator and is a prime candidate of the topological superconductor which still awaits discovery. The electrochemical intercalation technique for synthesizing Cu_xBi2Se3 offers good control of restricting Cu into the van-der-Waals gap and yields samples with shielding fractions of up to ~50%. We report essential details of this synthesis technique and present the established superconducting phase diagram of T_c vs x, along with a diagram of the shielding fraction vs x. Intriguingly, those diagrams suggest that there is a tendency to spontaneously form small islands of optimum superconductor in this material.