Superconductivity in doped Dirac semimetals

Abstract

We theoretically study intrinsic superconductivity in doped Dirac semimetals. Dirac semimetals host bulk Dirac points, which are formed by doubly degenerate bands, so the Hamiltonian is described by a 4×4 matrix and six types of k-independent pair potentials are allowed by the Fermi-Dirac statistics. We show that the unique spin-orbit coupling leads to characteristic superconducting gap structures and d vectors on the Fermi surface and the electron-electron interaction between intra and interorbitals gives a novel phase diagram of superconductivity. It is found that when the interorbital attraction is dominant, an unconventional superconducting state with point nodes appears. To verify the experimental signature of possible superconducting states, we calculate the temperature dependence of bulk physical properties such as electronic specific heat and spin susceptibility and surface state. In the unconventional superconducting phase, either dispersive or flat Andreev bound states appear between point nodes, which leads to double peaks or a single peak in the surface density of states, respectively. As a result, possible superconducting states can be distinguished by combining bulk and surface measurements.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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