Superconductivity from Spin-Canting Fluctuations in Rhombohedral Graphene

Rhombohedral graphene multilayers host various broken-symmetry metallic phases as well as superconductors whose pairing mechanism and order parameter symmetry remain unsettled. Strikingly, experiments have revealed prominent superconducting regions in rhombohedral bilayer and trilayer graphene devices with proximity-induced Ising spin-orbit coupling. We propose that these superconductors descend from a common spin-canted normal state that spontaneously breaks a U(1) spin symmetry and thus supports soft magnon modes. In particular, we show that these soft modes can mediate pairing through interband scattering events that are symmetry forbidden in the absence of spin-orbit coupling, thus providing a promising explanation for spin-orbit-enabled pairing. Numerous other experimental observations—including nontrivial dependence of superconductivity on the spin-orbit coupling strength, in-plane magnetic fields, and Fermi surface structure—also naturally follow from our scenario.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review X
Published
2026-02-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/2ts4-cxhs
Primary Topic
Graphene research and applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Superconductivity from Spin-Canting Fluctuations in Rhombohedral Graphene

Étienne Lantagne-Hurtubise, Zhiyu Dong, Jason Alicea
Physical Review X
Graphene research and applications
article

Superconductivity from Spin-Canting Fluctuations in Rhombohedral Graphene

Étienne Lantagne-Hurtubise, Zhiyu Dong, Jason Alicea
article en

Abstract

Rhombohedral graphene multilayers host various broken-symmetry metallic phases as well as superconductors whose pairing mechanism and order parameter symmetry remain unsettled. Strikingly, experiments have revealed prominent superconducting regions in rhombohedral bilayer and trilayer graphene devices with proximity-induced Ising spin-orbit coupling. We propose that these superconductors descend from a common spin-canted normal state that spontaneously breaks a U(1) spin symmetry and thus supports soft magnon modes. In particular, we show that these soft modes can mediate pairing through interband scattering events that are symmetry forbidden in the absence of spin-orbit coupling, thus providing a promising explanation for spin-orbit-enabled pairing. Numerous other experimental observations—including nontrivial dependence of superconductivity on the spin-orbit coupling strength, in-plane magnetic fields, and Fermi surface structure—also naturally follow from our scenario.

Physical Review XVol. 16(1)
California Institute of Technology (US), Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 59%
Graphene research and applications
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