Superconductivity in electron-doped arsenene

TL;DR

This paper predicts that electron-doped arsenene can exhibit phonon-mediated superconductivity with a transition temperature up to 30.8 K, significantly higher than bulk arsenic and other 2D elemental superconductors.

Contribution

The study is the first to predict high-temperature superconductivity in arsenene under electron doping and strain using first-principles calculations.

Findings

Superconducting transition temperature up to 30.8 K in arsenene.

Superconductivity mainly from $p_z$ electrons and $A_1$ phonon mode.

Highest predicted T_c among 2D elemental superconductors.

Abstract

Based on the first-principles density functional theory electronic structure calculation, we investigate the possible phonon-mediated superconductivity in arsenene, a two-dimensional buckled arsenic atomic sheet, under electron doping. We find that the strong superconducting pairing interaction results mainly from the $p_z$-like electrons of arsenic atoms and the $A_1$ phonon mode around the $K$ point, and the superconducting transition temperature can be as high as 30.8 K in the arsenene with 0.2 doped electrons per unit cell and 12\% applied biaxial tensile strain. This transition temperature is about ten times higher than that in the bulk arsenic under high pressure. It is also the highest transition temperature that is predicted for electron-doped two-dimensional elemental superconductors, including graphene, silicene, phosphorene, and borophene.