Lifshitz transition enabling superconducting dome around a charge-order critical point

Abstract

Superconductivity often emerges as a dome around a quantum critical point (QCP) where long-range order is suppressed to zero temperature, mostly in magnetically ordered materials. However, the emergence of superconductivity at charge-order QCPs remains shrouded in mystery, despite its relevance to high-temperature superconductors and other exotic phases of matter. Here, we present resistance measurements proving that a dome of superconductivity surrounds the putative charge-density-wave QCP in pristine samples of titanium diselenide tuned with hydrostatic pressure. In addition, our quantum oscillation measurements combined with electronic structure calculations show that superconductivity sets in precisely when large electron and hole pockets suddenly appear through an abrupt change of the Fermi surface topology, also known as a Lifshitz transition. Combined with the known repulsive interaction, this suggests that unconventional s ± superconductivity is mediated by charge-density-wave fluctuations in titanium diselenide. These results highlight the importance of the electronic ground state and charge fluctuations in enabling unconventional superconductivity.