Weak Antilocalization Effect and Noncentrosymmetric Superconductivity in a Topologically Nontrivial Semimetal LuPdBi

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the coexistence of topological surface states and superconductivity in LuPdBi, revealing a 2D weak antilocalization effect and a fully gapped, possibly unconventional, noncentrosymmetric superconducting state.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of topological surface states via WAL effect and identifies LuPdBi as a promising candidate for topological superconductivity.

Findings

Observation of 2D weak antilocalization effect in LuPdBi

Superconducting transition at Tc~1.7 K in LuPdBi

LuPdBi is a fully gapped, possibly unconventional, noncentrosymmetric superconductor

Abstract

A large number of half-Heusler compounds have been recently proposed as three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) with tunable physical properties.However, no transport measurements associated with the topological surface states have been observed in these half-Heusler candidates due to the dominating contribution from bulk electrical conductance. Here we show that, by reducing the mobility of bulk carriers, a two-dimensional (2D) weak antilocalization (WAL) effect, one of the hallmarks of topological surface states, was experimentally revealed from the tilted magnetic field dependence of magnetoconductance in a topologically nontrivial semimetal LuPdBi. Besides the observation of a 2D WAL effect, a superconducting transition was revealed at Tc~1.7 K in the same bulk LuPdBi. Quantitative analysis within the framework of a generalized BCS theory leads to the conclusion that the noncentrosymmetric superconductivity of LuPdBi is fully gapped with a possibly unconventional pairing character. The co-existence of superconductivity and the transport signature of topological surface states in the same bulk alloy suggests that LuPdBi represents a very promising candidate as a topological superconductor.