Anomalous superconductivity in twisted MoTe <sub>2</sub> nanojunctions
Introducing superconductivity in topological materials can lead to innovative electronic phases and device functionalities. Here, we present a unique strategy for quantum engineering of superconducting junctions in moiré materials through direct, on-chip, and fully encapsulated 2D crystal growth. We achieve robust and designable superconductivity in Pd-metalized twisted bilayer molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe<sub>2</sub>) and observe anomalous superconducting effects in high-quality junctions across ~20 moiré cells. Unexpectedly, the junction develops enhanced, instead of weakened, superconducting behaviors, exhibiting fluctuations to a higher critical magnetic field compared to its adjacent Pd<sub>7</sub>MoTe<sub>2</sub> superconductor. In addition, the critical current further exhibits a notable V-shaped minimum at zero magnetic field. These features are unexpected in conventional Josephson junctions and absent in junctions of natural bilayer MoTe<sub>2</sub> created using the same approach. We discuss implications of these observations, including the possible formation of mixed even- and odd-parity superconductivity at the moiré junctions. Our results also demonstrate a pathway to engineer and investigate superconductivity in fractional Chern insulators.
Authors
- Yue Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0506-5455)
- Ayelet J. Uzan-Narovlansky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6508-4685)
- Connor J. Pollak
- Guangming Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5852-1341)
- Leslie Mareike Schoop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3459-4241)
- Tiancheng Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6845-6624)
- Takashi Taniguchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1467-3105)
- Kenji Watanabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3701-8119)
- Sanfeng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6227-6286)
- N. P. Ong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7166-1058)
- Michael Onyszczak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9411-2369)
- Fang Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7286-3233)
- Yanyu Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6061-8441)
- Shiming Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8041-7161)
- Nan Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4081-1495)
- Zhaoyi Joy Zheng
- Guo Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1812-9825)
Institutions
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Princeton University (US)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-01-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq5712
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.48
Funders
- Division of Materials Research
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research