Possible topological superconductivity in the topological crystalline insulator (Pb1−xSnx)1−yInyTe

Abstract

Superconductivity in topological insulators is expected to show very unconventional features such as a p+ip order parameter, Majorana fermions, etc. However, intrinsic superconductivity has been observed in a very limited number of materials in which the pairing symmetry is still a matter of debate. Here, we study the topological crystalline insulator (TCI) (Pb1−xSnx)1−yInyTe, for which a peculiar insulator to superconductor transition was previously reported near the gap inversion transition, where the system is nearly a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal. Both the existence of superconductivity near the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal and the occurrence of an insulator to superconductor transition in an isotropic material are highly unusual. We suggest that the observed phenomena are related to the intrinsic instability of a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal state in (Pb1−xSnx)1−yInyTe and “flattening” of the bulk valence and conduction bands as they acquire a Mexican-hat-like dispersion on the inverted side of the phase diagram. This favors the pairing instability if the chemical potential is pinned to these flat regions.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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