title: Emergent surface superconductivity in the topological insulator Sb2Te3.
abstract: Surfaces of three-dimensional topological insulators have emerged as one of the most remarkable states of condensed quantum matter where exotic electronic phases of Dirac particles should arise. Here we report on superconductivity in the topological insulator Sb2Te3 with transition to zero resistance induced through a minor tuning of growth chemistry that depletes bulk conduction channels. The depletion shifts Fermi energy towards the Dirac point as witnessed by a factor of 300 reduction of bulk carrier density and by the largest carrier mobility (≳25,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) found in any topological material. Direct evidence from transport, the unprecedentedly large diamagnetic screening, and the presence of ∼25 meV gaps detected by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy reveal the superconducting condensate to emerge first in surface puddles, with the onset of global phase coherence at ∼9 K. The rich structure of this state lends itself to manipulation via growth conditions and the material parameters such as Fermi velocity and mean free path.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Haiming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Korzhovska
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Begliarbekov
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Zhiyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Erick
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Abhay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pasupathy
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science and Physics, College of Staten Island, CUNY, Staten Island, New York, New York 10314, USA.|The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Oganesyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.|The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, New York 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krusin-Elbaum