High-Tc Superconductivity in Functionalized Out-of-Plane Ordered Double Transition Metal MXenes

TL;DR

This study investigates the superconducting properties of surface-functionalized double transition-metal MXenes, identifying 32 stable compounds with transition temperatures up to 52 K, and analyzing their electronic and vibrational characteristics using first-principles calculations.

Contribution

It is the first comprehensive theoretical exploration of superconductivity in out-of-plane ordered double MXenes, revealing high T$_{c}$ candidates and detailed electron-phonon interaction mechanisms.

Findings

32 stable superconducting MXenes identified

Mo$_{2}$ScN$_{2}$O$_{2}$ achieves T$_{c}$ of 52 K

Anisotropic two-gap superconductivity observed

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) superconductors attracted growing interest in condensed-matter physics research. In this work, we explore the superconducting properties of surface-functionalized, out-of-plane ordered double transition-metal MXenes (o-MXenes), which exhibit distinctive structural and electronic characteristics. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the effects of electronic structure, electron-phonon coupling (EPC), anharmonicity, and anisotropy effect in superconductivity properties of o-MXenes. We examine a wide range of o-MXene systems, M$_{2}$M$^\prime$X$_{2}$T$_{2}$ (M = Mo, W; M$^\prime$ = Sc, Ti, V, Mo, Zr, Nb, Ta; X = C, N), functionalized with F, O, Cl, and H groups. Out of 128 candidates, 32 compounds are found to be mechanically, dynamically, and thermodynamically stable, exhibiting superconducting transition temperatures (T$_{c}$) from 0.1 K to 52 K. Notably, the Mo$_{2}$ScN$_{2}$O$_{2}$ compound achieves the highest T$_{c}$ of 52 K, with a superconducting gap of $\sim$10 meV. Solving the anisotropic Eliashberg equation reveals that Mo$_{2}$ScN$_{2}$O$_{2}$ is an anisotropic two-gap superconductor, and incorporating anharmonic effects decreases its T$_{c}$ slightly. We further analyze flat-band-induced EPC enhancement and present EPC matrix elements as functions of phonon wavevector q for distinct vibrational modes that show anharmonic behavior of these materials.