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Investigating the superconducting state of 2H−NbS2 as seen by the vortex lattice

Alshemi, A. LU orcid ; Campillo Munoz, Emma LU ; Forgan, Edward M. ; Cubitt, R. ; Abdel-Hafiez, M. and Blackburn, E. LU (2024) In Physical Review Research 6(3).
Abstract
2H-NbS2 is a classic example of an anisotropic multiband superconductor, with significant recent work focusing on the interesting responses seen when high magnetic fields are applied precisely parallel to the hexagonal niobium planes. It is often contrasted with its sister compound 2H-NbSe2 because they have similar onset temperatures for superconductivity, but 2H-NbS2 has no charge density wave whereas in 2H-NbSe2 the charge density wave order couples strongly to the superconductivity. Using small-angle neutron scattering, a bulk-sensitive probe, we have studied the vortex lattice and how it responds to the underlying superconducting anisotropy. This is done by controlling the orientation of the field with respect to the Nb planes. The... (More)
2H-NbS2 is a classic example of an anisotropic multiband superconductor, with significant recent work focusing on the interesting responses seen when high magnetic fields are applied precisely parallel to the hexagonal niobium planes. It is often contrasted with its sister compound 2H-NbSe2 because they have similar onset temperatures for superconductivity, but 2H-NbS2 has no charge density wave whereas in 2H-NbSe2 the charge density wave order couples strongly to the superconductivity. Using small-angle neutron scattering, a bulk-sensitive probe, we have studied the vortex lattice and how it responds to the underlying superconducting anisotropy. This is done by controlling the orientation of the field with respect to the Nb planes. The superconducting anisotropy, ac = 7.07 ± 0.2, is found to be field independent over the range measured (0.15 to 1.25 T), and the magnetic field distribution as a function of the applied magnetic field is found to be in excellent quantitative agreement with anisotropic London theory modified with a core-size cutoff correction, providing the first complete validation of this model. We find values of λab = 141.9 ± 1.5 nm for the in-plane London penetration depth, and λc ∼ 1 µm for the out-of-plane response. The field-independence indicates that we are primarily sampling the larger of the two gaps generating the superconductivity in this material. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review Research
volume
6
issue
3
article number
033218
pages
12 pages
publisher
American Physical Society
ISSN
2643-1564
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.033218
project
Accessing high pressure and low temperature states of exotic magnetism
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
63937d26-a484-442a-9007-79c1afc45b9a
date added to LUP
2024-09-02 09:51:13
date last changed
2024-09-03 15:41:29
@article{63937d26-a484-442a-9007-79c1afc45b9a,
  abstract     = {{2H-NbS2 is a classic example of an anisotropic multiband superconductor, with significant recent work focusing on the interesting responses seen when high magnetic fields are applied precisely parallel to the hexagonal niobium planes. It is often contrasted with its sister compound 2H-NbSe2 because they have similar onset temperatures for superconductivity, but 2H-NbS2 has no charge density wave whereas in 2H-NbSe2 the charge density wave order couples strongly to the superconductivity. Using small-angle neutron scattering, a bulk-sensitive probe, we have studied the vortex lattice and how it responds to the underlying superconducting anisotropy. This is done by controlling the orientation of the field with respect to the Nb planes. The superconducting anisotropy, ac = 7.07 ± 0.2, is found to be field independent over the range measured (0.15 to 1.25 T), and the magnetic field distribution as a function of the applied magnetic field is found to be in excellent quantitative agreement with anisotropic London theory modified with a core-size cutoff correction, providing the first complete validation of this model. We find values of λab = 141.9 ± 1.5 nm for the in-plane London penetration depth, and λc ∼ 1 µm for the out-of-plane response. The field-independence indicates that we are primarily sampling the larger of the two gaps generating the superconductivity in this material.}},
  author       = {{Alshemi, A. and Campillo Munoz, Emma and Forgan, Edward M. and Cubitt, R. and Abdel-Hafiez, M. and Blackburn, E.}},
  issn         = {{2643-1564}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review Research}},
  title        = {{Investigating the superconducting state of 2<i>H</i>−NbS2 as seen by the vortex lattice}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.033218}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.033218}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}