Superconductivity in Potassium-intercalated Td-WTe2

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of superconductivity in potassium-intercalated WTe2, a topological material, with anisotropic properties and coexistence with positive magneto-resistance, suggesting potential for topological superconductor applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates successful potassium intercalation into WTe2 and reveals superconductivity coexisting with topological features, a novel finding in this material class.

Findings

Superconductivity observed in KxWTe2 via transport and spectroscopy

Superconductivity exhibits anisotropic behavior

Coexistence of superconductivity and positive magneto-resistance

Abstract

To realize 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 WTe2, and discover the superconducting state in KxWTe2 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 magneto-resistance state. Structural analysis substantiates the negligible lattice expansion induced by the intercalation, therefore suggesting K-intercalated WTe2 still hosts the topological nontrivial state. These results indicate that the K-intercalated WTe2 may be a promising candidate to explore the topological superconductor.