Ultrasound Evidence for Two Superconducting Phase Transitions in 4Hb-TaS$_2$ Single Crystals

Ultrasound Evidence for Two Superconducting Phase Transitions in 4Hb-TaS$_2$ Single Crystals

Section: (M) Fundamentals of high temperature superconductivity (mechanisms, pairing symmetry, etc);
Report type: Poster
Authors: Yongwei Li, Vadim Grinenko
Affiliations: Shanghai Jiaotong University
Short Abstract (up to 700 symbols): brief outline of the main idea of the work: 4Hb-TaS₂, a natural van der Waals heterostructure with alternating insulating 1T-TaS₂ quantum spin liquid and superconducting 1H-TaS₂ layers, exhibits unique properties like magnetic memory effect and time reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) in the superconducting state. TRSB evidence and π-shifts in the Little-Parks effect suggest possible chiral superconductivity. Here, ultrasound measurements on 1% and 2% sulfur-doped 4Hb-TaS₂ single crystals reveal two distinct anomalies in sound velocity and attenuation: one at superconducting Tc and another transition starting at T*~2K. The second transition’s high sensitivity to magnetic field and sulfur content confirms its association with superconductivity, and the strong attenuation effect at T* indicates a bulk transition. We speculate that T* may relate to the formation of a two-component superconducting state.
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4Hb-TaS2, a naturally occurring van der Waals heterostructure comprised of alternating isolating
1T-TaS2 quantum spin liquid and superconducting 1H-TaS2 layers, shows a plethora of unprece-
dented properties, including magnetic memory effect and time reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB)
in the superconducting state. The evidence for TRSB combined with the observation of π-shifts
in the Little-Parks effect indicates a possibility for chiral superconductivity in 4Hb-TaS2. Here we
performed ultrasound measurements of the high-quality single crystals of 4Hb-TaS2 doped with 1
and 2% of sulfur. We observed two distinct anomalies in the sound velocity and attenuation for
different acoustic modes. The first anomaly is observed at superconducting Tc and the second tran-
sition with onset at T ∗ ∼ 2K. The high sensitivity of the second transition to the applied magnetic
field and sulfur content enabled us to conclude that it is associated with superconductivity. The
strong effect in the attenuation at T ∗ indicates a bulk nature of the transition. We speculated that
T ∗ can be associated with the formation of a two-component superconducting state.

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