Atomic-layer Rashba-type superconductor protected by dynamic spin-momentum locking

Shunsuke Yoshizawa (), Takahiro Kobayashi, Yoshitaka Nakata, Koichiro Yaji, Kenta Yokota, Fumio Komori, Shik Shin, Kazuyuki Sakamoto and Takashi Uchihashi ()
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Shunsuke Yoshizawa: Research Center for Advanced Measurement and Characterization, National Institute for Materials Science
Takahiro Kobayashi: Osaka University
Yoshitaka Nakata: Chiba University
Koichiro Yaji: The University of Tokyo
Kenta Yokota: National Institute for Materials Science
Fumio Komori: The University of Tokyo
Shik Shin: The University of Tokyo
Kazuyuki Sakamoto: Chiba University
Takashi Uchihashi: National Institute for Materials Science

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Spin-momentum locking is essential to the spin-split Fermi surfaces of inversion-symmetry broken materials, which are caused by either Rashba-type or Zeeman-type spin-orbit coupling (SOC). While the effect of Zeeman-type SOC on superconductivity has experimentally been shown recently, that of Rashba-type SOC remains elusive. Here we report on convincing evidence for the critical role of the spin-momentum locking on crystalline atomic-layer superconductors on surfaces, for which the presence of the Rashba-type SOC is demonstrated. In-situ electron transport measurements reveal that in-plane upper critical magnetic field is anomalously enhanced, reaching approximately three times the Pauli limit at T = 0. Our quantitative analysis clarifies that dynamic spin-momentum locking, a mechanism where spin is forced to flip at every elastic electron scattering, suppresses the Cooper pair-breaking parameter by orders of magnitude and thereby protects superconductivity. The present result provides a new insight into how superconductivity can survive the detrimental effects of strong magnetic fields and exchange interactions.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21642-1

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