Superconductivity enhancement in polar metal regions of Sr$_{0.95}$Ba$_{0.05}$TiO$_3$ and Sr$_{0.985}$Ca$_{0.015}$TiO$_3$ revealed by the systematic Nb doping

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that polar metallic regions in doped SrTiO$_3$-based materials exhibit enhanced superconductivity, with the highest $T_c$ reported for these families, indicating ferroelectricity can promote superconductivity.

Contribution

It reveals that ferroelectric-induced polar metallic states in SrTiO$_3$ derivatives enhance superconductivity, challenging the notion that centrosymmetry breaking suppresses it.

Findings

Superconducting dome observed in Nb-doped polar metals.

Maximum $T_c$ of 0.75K exceeds previous SrTiO$_3$-based materials.

Superconductivity is more strongly enhanced away from the ferroelectric quantum critical point.

Abstract

Two different ferroelectric materials, Sr$_{0.95}$Ba$_{0.05}$TiO$_3$ and Sr$_{0.985}$Ca$_{0.015}$TiO$_3$, can be turned into polar metals with broken centrosymmetry via electron doping. Systematic substitution of Nb$^{5+}$ for Ti$^{4+}$ has revealed that these polar metals both commonly show a simple superconducting dome with a single convex shape. Interestingly, the superconducting transition temperature $T_\mathrm{c}$ is enhanced more strongly in these polar metals when compared with the nonpolar matrix Sr(Ti,Nb)O$_3$. The maximum $T_\mathrm{c}$ reaches 0.75K, which is the highest reported value among the SrTiO$_3$-based families to date. However, the $T_\mathrm{c}$ enhancement is unexpectedly lower within the vicinity of the putative ferroelectric quantum critical point. The enhancement then becomes much more prominent at locations further inside the dilute carrier-density region, where the screening is less effective. These results suggest that centrosymmetry breaking, i.e., the ferroelectric nature, does not kill the superconductivity. Instead, it enhances the superconductivity directly, despite the absence of strong quantum fluctuations.