Anisotropic superconductivity at KTaO 3 (111) interfaces

• Published in: Science advances Vol. 9; no. 7; p. eadf1414
• Main Authors: Arnault, Ethan G, Al-Tawhid, Athby H, Salmani-Rezaie, Salva, Muller, David A, Kumah, Divine P, Bahramy, Mohammad S, Finkelstein, Gleb, Ahadi, Kaveh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 17.02.2023
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf1414

A two-dimensional, anisotropic superconductivity was recently found at the KTaO (111) interfaces. The nature of the anisotropic superconducting transition remains a subject of debate. To investigate the origins of the observed behavior, we grew epitaxial KTaO (111)-based heterostructures. We show that the superconductivity is robust against the in-plane magnetic field and violates the Pauli limit. We also show that the Cooper pairs are more resilient when the bias is along [11[Formula: see text]] (I ∥ [11[Formula: see text]]) and the magnetic field is along [1[Formula: see text]0] ( ∥ [1[Formula: see text]0]). We discuss the anisotropic nature of superconductivity in the context of electronic structure, orbital character, and spin texture at the KTaO (111) interfaces. The results point to future opportunities to enhance superconducting transition temperatures and critical fields in crystalline, two-dimensional superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling.