Charge density wave and superconductivity competition in Lu5Ir4Si10: A proton irradiation study

Abstract

Real-space modulated charge density waves (CDW) are a ubiquitous feature in many families of superconductors. In particular, how CDW relates to superconductivity is an active and open question that has recently gathered much interest since CDWs have been discovered in many cuprates superconductors. Here we show that disorder induced by proton irradiation is a full-fledged tuning parameter that can bring essential information to answer this question as it affects CDW and superconductivity with different and unequivocal mechanisms. Specifically, in the model CDW superconductor Lu5Ir4Si10 that develops a 1D CDW below 77 K and s-wave superconductivity below 4 K, we show that disorder enhances the superconducting critical temperature Tc and Hc2 while it suppresses the CDW. Discussing how disorder affects both superconductivity and the CDW, we make a compelling case that superconductivity and CDW are competing for electronic density of states at the Fermi level in Lu5Ir4Si10, and we reconcile the results obtained via the more common tuning parameters of pressure and doping. Owing to its prototypical, 1D, Peierls type CDW and the s-wave, weak-coupling nature of its superconductivity, this irradiation study of Lu5Ir4Si10 provides the basis to understand and extend such studies to the more complex cases of density waves and superconductivity coexistence in heavy fermions, Fe-based, or cuprates superconductors.

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