title: Observation of superconductivity induced by a point contact on 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 crystals.
abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetals, which possess 3D linear dispersion in the electronic structure as a bulk analogue of graphene, have lately generated widespread interest in both materials science and condensed matter physics. Recently, crystalline Cd3As2 has been proposed and proved to be a 3D Dirac semimetal that can survive in the atmosphere. Here, by using point contact spectroscopy measurements, we observe exotic superconductivity around the point contact region on the surface of Cd3As2 crystals. The zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) and double conductance peaks (DCPs) symmetric around zero bias suggest p-wave-like unconventional superconductivity. Considering the topological properties of 3D Dirac semimetals, our findings may indicate that Cd3As2 crystals under certain conditions could be topological superconductors, which are predicted to support Majorana zero modes or gapless Majorana edge/surface modes in the boundary depending on the dimensionality of the material.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Huichao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Haiwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Wuhao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xiong-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: X C
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang