Extremely high upper critical field in BiCh$_2$-based (Ch: S and Se) layered superconductor LaO$_{0.5}$F$_{0.5}$BiS$_{2-x}$Se$_x$ ($x$ = 0.22 and 0.69)

TL;DR

This study reports extremely high in-plane upper critical fields in a BiCh$_2$-based layered superconductor, likely enhanced by local inversion symmetry breaking, suggesting new pathways for high-field superconductor discovery.

Contribution

It demonstrates that local inversion symmetry breaking in BiCh$_2$-based superconductors can significantly enhance the upper critical field, a novel insight into superconductor design.

Findings

Upper critical fields up to 55 T observed.

Superconducting states persist under high magnetic fields.

Local inversion symmetry breaking likely enhances critical fields.

Abstract

Centrosymmetric compounds with local inversion symmetry breaking have tremendously interesting and intriguing physical properties. In this study, we focus on a BiCh$_2$-based (Ch: S, Se) layered superconductor, as a system with local inversion asymmetry, because spin polarisation based on the Rashba-Dresselhaus-type spin-orbit coupling has been observed in centrosymmetric BiCh$_2$-based LaOBiS$_2$ systems, while the BiCh$_2$ layer lacks local inversion symmetry. Herein, we report the existence of extremely high in-plane upper critical fields in the BiCh$_2$-based system LaO$_{0.5}$F$_{0.5}$BiS$_{2-x}$Se$_x$ ($x$ = 0.22 and 0.69). The superconducting states are not completely suppressed by the applied magnetic fields with strengths up to 55 T. Thus, we consider that the in-plane upper critical field is enhanced by the local inversion symmetry breaking and its layered structure. Our study will open a new pathway for the discovery of superconductors that exhibit a high upper critical field by focusing on the local inversion symmetry breaking.