Proximity-Effect-Induced Anisotropic Superconductivity in Monolayer Ni-Pb Binary Alloy

TL;DR

This study demonstrates proximity-induced anisotropic superconductivity in a monolayer Ni-Pb alloy, revealing unique superconducting gap properties and potential for low-dimensional superconducting applications.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic investigation of anisotropic superconductivity in a monolayer Ni-Pb alloy using STM/STS and theoretical calculations.

Findings

Ni-Pb alloy exhibits a reduced, anisotropic superconducting gap of ~1.0 meV.

Superconducting transition temperature (Tc) is about 7.1 K, similar to Pb(111).

The alloy shows a short decay length of ~3.55 nm indicating strong proximity effect.

Abstract

Proximity effect facilitates the penetration of Cooper pairs that permits superconductivity in normal metal, offerring a promising approach to turn heterogeneous materials into superconducting and develop exceptional quantum phenomena. Here, we have systematically investigated proximity-induced anisotropic superconductivity in monolayer Ni-Pb binary alloy by combining scanning tunneling microscopy/ spectroscopy(STM/STS) with theoretical calculations. By means of high temperature growth, the(3root3by3root3)R30o Ni-Pb surface alloy has been fabricated on the Pb(111), where the appearance of domain boundary as well as lattice transformation are further corroborated by the STM simulations. Given the high spatial and energy resolution, tunnelling conductance (dI/dU) spectra have resolved a reduced but anisotropic superconducting gap NiPb about 1.0 meV, in stark contrast to the isotropic Pb about 1.3 meV on the conventional Pb(111). In addition, the higher density of states at Fermi energy (D(EF)) of Ni-Pb surface alloy results in an enhancement of coherence peak height. According to the same Tc about 7.1 K with Pb(111) from the temperature dependent NiPb and a short decay length Ld about 3.55 nm from the spatially monotonic decrease of NiPb, both results are supportive for the proximity-induced superconductivity. Despite a lack of bulk counterpart, the atomic-thick Ni-Pb bimetallic compound opens a new pathway to engineer superconducting properties down to the low-dimensional limit, giving rise to the emergence of anisotropic superconductivity via proximity effect.