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Tunable strongly coupled superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene

Author

Listed:
  • Jeong Min Park

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Yuan Cao

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Kenji Watanabe

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Moiré superlattices1,2 have recently emerged as a platform upon which correlated physics and superconductivity can be studied with unprecedented tunability3–6. Although correlated effects have been observed in several other moiré systems7–17, magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene remains the only one in which robust superconductivity has been reproducibly measured4–6. Here we realize a moiré superconductor in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene (MATTG)18, which has better tunability of its electronic structure and superconducting properties than magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. Measurements of the Hall effect and quantum oscillations as a function of density and electric field enable us to determine the tunable phase boundaries of the system in the normal metallic state. Zero-magnetic-field resistivity measurements reveal that the existence of superconductivity is intimately connected to the broken-symmetry phase that emerges from two carriers per moiré unit cell. We find that the superconducting phase is suppressed and bounded at the Van Hove singularities that partially surround the broken-symmetry phase, which is difficult to reconcile with weak-coupling Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory. Moreover, the extensive in situ tunability of our system allows us to reach the ultrastrong-coupling regime, characterized by a Ginzburg–Landau coherence length that reaches the average inter-particle distance, and very large TBKT/TF values, in excess of 0.1 (where TBKT and TF are the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition and Fermi temperatures, respectively). These observations suggest that MATTG can be electrically tuned close to the crossover to a two-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensate. Our results establish a family of tunable moiré superconductors that have the potential to revolutionize our fundamental understanding of and the applications for strongly coupled superconductivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeong Min Park & Yuan Cao & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, 2021. "Tunable strongly coupled superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene," Nature, Nature, vol. 590(7845), pages 249-255, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:590:y:2021:i:7845:d:10.1038_s41586-021-03192-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03192-0
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Maine Christos & Subir Sachdev & Mathias S. Scheurer, 2023. "Nodal band-off-diagonal superconductivity in twisted graphene superlattices," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Hualiang Lv & Yuxing Yao & Shucong Li & Guanglei Wu & Biao Zhao & Xiaodi Zhou & Robert L. Dupont & Ufuoma I. Kara & Yimin Zhou & Shibo Xi & Bo Liu & Renchao Che & Jincang Zhang & Hongbin Xu & Solomon , 2023. "Staggered circular nanoporous graphene converts electromagnetic waves into electricity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Max Heyl & Kyosuke Adachi & Yuki M. Itahashi & Yuji Nakagawa & Yuichi Kasahara & Emil J. W. List-Kratochvil & Yusuke Kato & Yoshihiro Iwasa, 2022. "Vortex dynamics in the two-dimensional BCS-BEC crossover," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    4. Yu-Bo Liu & Jing Zhou & Congjun Wu & Fan Yang, 2023. "Charge-4e superconductivity and chiral metal in 45°-twisted bilayer cuprates and related bilayers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Wenbin Wu & Zeping Shi & Mykhaylo Ozerov & Yuhan Du & Yuxiang Wang & Xiao-Sheng Ni & Xianghao Meng & Xiangyu Jiang & Guangyi Wang & Congming Hao & Xinyi Wang & Pengcheng Zhang & Chunhui Pan & Haifeng , 2024. "The discovery of three-dimensional Van Hove singularity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Yifan Xie & Shuo Feng & Linxiao Deng & Aoran Cai & Liyu Gan & Zifan Jiang & Peng Yang & Guilin Ye & Zaiqing Liu & Li Wen & Qing Zhu & Wanjun Zhang & Zhanpeng Zhang & Jiahe Li & Zeyu Feng & Chutian Zha, 2023. "Inverse design of chiral functional films by a robotic AI-guided system," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Changjiang Liu & Xianjing Zhou & Deshun Hong & Brandon Fisher & Hong Zheng & John Pearson & Jidong Samuel Jiang & Dafei Jin & Michael R. Norman & Anand Bhattacharya, 2023. "Tunable superconductivity and its origin at KTaO3 interfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Le Liu & Shihao Zhang & Yanbang Chu & Cheng Shen & Yuan Huang & Yalong Yuan & Jinpeng Tian & Jian Tang & Yiru Ji & Rong Yang & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Dongxia Shi & Jianpeng Liu & Wei Yan, 2022. "Isospin competitions and valley polarized correlated insulators in twisted double bilayer graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    9. J. González & T. Stauber, 2023. "Ising superconductivity induced from spin-selective valley symmetry breaking in twisted trilayer graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    10. Dorri Halbertal & Simon Turkel & Christopher J. Ciccarino & Jonas B. Profe & Nathan Finney & Valerie Hsieh & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & James Hone & Cory Dean & Prineha Narang & Abhay N. Pas, 2022. "Unconventional non-local relaxation dynamics in a twisted trilayer graphene moiré superlattice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    11. Shubhayu Chatterjee & Taige Wang & Erez Berg & Michael P. Zaletel, 2022. "Inter-valley coherent order and isospin fluctuation mediated superconductivity in rhombohedral trilayer graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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