Suppression of superconductivity and enhanced critical field anisotropy in thin flakes of FeSe

Liam S. Farrar, Matthew Bristow, Amir A. Haghighirad, Alix McCollam, Simon J. Bending, Amalia I. Coldea

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35 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

FeSe is a unique superconductor that can be manipulated to enhance its superconductivity using different routes, while its monolayer form grown on different substrates reaches a record high temperature for a two-dimensional system. In order to understand the role played by the substrate and the reduced dimensionality on superconductivity, we examine the superconducting properties of exfoliated FeSe thin flakes by reducing the thickness from bulk down towards 9 nm. Magnetotransport measurements performed in magnetic fields up to 16 T and temperatures down to 2 K help to build up complete superconducting phase diagrams of different thickness flakes. While the thick flakes resemble the bulk behaviour, by reducing the thickness the superconductivity of FeSe flakes is suppressed. The observation of the vortex-antivortex unbinding transition in different flakes provide a direct signature of a dominant two-dimensional pairing channel. However, the upper critical field reflects the evolution of the multi-band nature of superconductivity in FeSe becoming highly two-dimensional and strongly anisotropic only in the thin limit. Our study provides detailed insights into the evolution of the superconducting properties of a multi-band superconductor FeSe in the thin limit in the absence of a dopant substrate.

Original languageEnglish
Article number29
Journalnpj Quantum Materials
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 May 2020

Funding

We thank Lara Benfatto for very helpful comments on our manuscript and Sid Parameswaran, Steve Simon for useful discussions. The research was funded by the Oxford Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CFAS) at Oxford University. We also acknowledge financial support of the John Fell Fund of the Oxford University. This work was partly supported by EPSRC (EP/I004475/1, EP/I017836/1). L.F. is supported by the Bath/Bristol Centre for Doctoral Training in Condensed Matter Physics, under the EPSRC (UK) Grant No. EP/L015544. Part of this work was supported by HFML-RU/ FOM and LNCMI-CNRS, members of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL) and by EPSRC (UK) via its membership to the EMFL (EP/N01085X/1). A.A.H. acknowledges the financial support of the Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant (EP/M020517/1). A.I.C. acknowledges an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship (EP/I004475/1).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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