Prediction of Phonon-Mediated Superconductivity with High Critical Temperature in the Two-Dimensional Topological Semimetal W2N3

Two-dimensional superconductors attract great interest both for their fundamental physics and for their potential applications, especially in the rapidly growing field of quantum computing. Despite intense theoretical and experimental efforts, materials with a reasonably high transition temperature are still rare. Even more rare are those that combine superconductivity with a nontrivial band topology that could potentially give rise to exotic states of matter. Here, the authors predict a remarkably high superconducting critical temperature of 21 K in the easily exfoliable, topologically nontrivial 2D semimetal W₂N₃. By studying its electronic and superconducting properties as a function of doping and strain, we also find large changes in the electron–phonon interactions that make this material a unique platform to study different coupling regimes and test the limits of current theories of superconductivity. Last, the authors discuss the possibility of tuning the material to achieve coexistence of superconductivity and topologically nontrivial edge states.

Davide Campi, Simran Kumari, and Nicola Marzari

Two-dimensional superconductors attract great interest both for their fundamental physics and for their potential applications, especially in the rapidly growing field of quantum computing. https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.14751

© 2022, The Author(s)
 

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c05125