Resonantly enhanced polariton-mediated superconductivity in a doped transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to induce superconductivity in a doped monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide using resonantly excited exciton polaritons, avoiding Pauli blocking and enabling higher temperature superconductivity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach for polariton-mediated superconductivity in a single monolayer, utilizing Feshbach resonances and exciton fine structure for tunable interactions.

Findings

Superconductivity can be achieved in a single monolayer TMD using exciton polaritons.

Resonant excitation avoids Pauli blocking, enabling effective electron pairing.

Elevated temperature superconductivity is theoretically feasible with current experimental capabilities.

Abstract

We present a proposal for achieving light-induced superconductivity using exciton polaritons - hybrid light-matter particles of excitons (bound electron-hole pairs) and microcavity photons. In contrast to previous theories of polariton-mediated superconductivity, which typically require multiple semiconductor layers, we show that superconductivity can be induced within a single semiconductor monolayer with inverted conduction bands, such as in the tungsten-based transition metal dichalcogenides. The key ingredient is that we can resonantly excite exciton polaritons into bands that are different from those occupied by the doped electrons, thus avoiding any Pauli blocking effects. Crucially, we can exploit the trion fine structure (i.e., multiple exciton-electron bound states) and tune the electron-polariton interactions via Feshbach resonances. Our theory of polariton-mediated superconductivity includes the energy dependence of the polariton-mediated interactions between electrons, as well as the polariton-induced changes to the electron quasiparticles. We find that superconductivity at elevated temperatures is within reach of current experiments.