Unconventional superconductivity in CuxBi2Se3 from magnetic susceptibility and electrical transport

Abstract

Abstract Although the Cu doped Bi2Se3 topological insulator was discovered and intensively studied for almost a decade, its electrical and magnetic properties in normal state, and the mechanism of ‘high-T c’ superconductivity regarding the relatively low-carrier density are still not addressed yet. In this work, we report a systematic investigation of magnetic susceptibility, critical fields, and electrical transport on the nominal Cu0.20Bi2Se3 single crystals with T c o n s e t = 4.18 K, the highest so far. The composition analysis yields the Cu stoichiometry of x = 0.09(1). The magnetic susceptibility shows considerable anisotropy and an obvious kink at around 96 K was observed in the magnetic susceptibility for H∥c, which indicates a charge density anomaly. The electrical transport measurements indicate the two-dimensional (2D) Fermi liquid behavior at low temperatures with a high Kadowaki–Woods ratio, A/γ 2 = 30.3a 0. The lower critical field at 0 K limit was extracted to be 6.0 Oe for H∥ab. In the clean limit, the ratio of energy gap to T c was determined to be Δ0/k B T c = 2.029 ± 0.124 exceeding the standard BCS value 1.764, suggesting Cu0.09Bi2Se3 is a strong-coupling superconductor. The in-plane penetration depth at 0 K was calculated to be 1541.57 nm, resulting in an unprecedented high ratio of T c/λ −2(0) ≅ 9.86. Moreover, the ratio of T c to Fermi temperature is estimated to be T c / T F 2 D = 0.034. Both ratios fall into the region of unconventional superconductivity according to Uemura’s regime, supporting the unconventional superconducting mechanism in Cu x Bi2Se3. Finally, the enhanced T c value higher than 4 K is proposed to arise from the increased density of states at Fermi energy and strong electron–phonon interaction induced by the charge density instability.