Abstract
Recent experiments on FeSe films grown on SrTiO3 (STO) suggest that interface effects can be used as a means to reach superconducting critical temperatures (Tc) of up to 80 K (ref. 1). This is nearly ten times the Tc of bulk FeSe and higher than the record value of 56 K for known bulk Fe-based superconductors2. Together with recent studies of superconductivity at oxide heterostructure interfaces3,4,5,6, these results rekindle the long-standing idea that electron pairing at interfaces between two different materials can be tailored to achieve high-temperature superconductivity7,8,9,10,11,12. Subsequent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of the FeSe/STO system revealed an electronic structure distinct from bulk FeSe (refs 13, 14), with an energy gap vanishing at around 65 K. However, ex situ electrical transport measurements1,15 have so far detected zero resistance—the key experimental signature of superconductivity—only below 30 K. Here, we report the observation of superconductivity with Tc above 100 K in the FeSe/STO system by means of in situ four-point probe electrical transport measurements. This finding confirms FeSe/STO as an ideal material for studying high-Tc superconductivity.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wang, Q. Y. et al. Interface-induced high-temperature superconductivity in single unit-cell FeSe films on SrTiO3 . Chin. Phys. Lett. 29, 037402 (2012).
Wu, G. et al. Superconductivity at 56 K in samarium-doped SrFeAsF. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 21, 142203 (2009).
Reyren, N. et al. Superconducting interfaces between insulating oxides. Science 317, 1196–1199 (2007).
Gozar, A. et al. High-temperature interface superconductivity between metallic and insulating copper oxides. Nature 455, 782–785 (2008).
Kozuka, Y. et al. Two-dimensional normal-state quantum oscillations in a superconducting heterostructure. Nature 462, 487–490 (2009).
Richter, C. et al. Interface superconductor with gap behaviour like a high-temperature superconductor. Nature 502, 528–531 (2013).
Ginzburg, V. L. On surface superconductivity. Phys. Lett. 13, 101–102 (1964).
Cohen, M. H. & Douglass, D. H. Superconductive pairing across electron barriers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 19, 118–121 (1967).
Strongin, M. et al. Enhanced superconductivity in layered metallic films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 21, 1320–1323 (1968).
Zhang, T. et al. Superconductivity in one-atomic-layer metal films grown on Si(111). Nature Phys. 6, 104–108 (2010).
Uchihashi, T., Mishra, P., Aono, M. & Nakayama, T. Macroscopic superconducting current through a silicon surface reconstruction with indium adatoms: Si(111)-( )-In. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 207001 (2011).
Yamada, M., Hirahara, T. & Hasegawa, S. Magnetoresistance measurements of a superconducting surface state of In-induced and Pb-induced structures on Si(111). Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 237001 (2013).
He, S. L. et al. Phase diagram and electronic indication of high-temperature superconductivity at 65 K in single-layer FeSe films. Nature Mater. 12, 605–610 (2013).
Tan, S. Y. et al. Interface-induced superconductivity and strain-dependent spin density waves in FeSe/SrTiO3 thin films. Nature Mater. 12, 634–640 (2013).
Zhang, W. et al. Direct observation of high-temperature superconductivity in one-unit-cell FeSe films. Chin. Phys. Lett. 31, 017401 (2014).
Schilling, A., Cantoni, M., Guo, J. D. & Ott, H. R. Superconductivity above 130 K in the Hg–Ba–Ca–Cu–O system. Nature 363, 56–58 (1993).
Kamihara, Y., Watanabe, T., Hirano, M. & Hosono, H. Iron-based layered superconductor La[O1−xFx]FeAs (x = 0.05 − 0.12) with Tc = 26 K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 3296–3297 (2008).
Song, Y. J. et al. Superconducting properties of a stoichiometric FeSe compound and two anomalous features in the normal state. J. Korean Phys. Soc. 59, 312–316 (2011).
Hasegawa, S. et al. Electrical conduction through surface superstructures measured by microscopic four-point probe. Surf. Rev. Lett. 10, 963–980 (2003).
Smits, F. M. Measurement of sheet resistivities with the four-point probe. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 37, 711–718 (1958).
Valdes, L. B. Resistivity measurements on germanium for transistors. Proc. Inst. Radio Eng. 42, 420–427 (1954).
Zhu, Y. Y., Tsai, C. F. & Wang, H. Y. Atomic interface sequence, misfit strain relaxation and intrinsic flux-pinning defects in different YBa2Cu3O7−δ heterogeneous systems. Supercond. Sci. Technol. 26, 025009 (2013).
Nestler, T. et al. Increased cubic–tetragonal phase transition temperature and resistivity hysteresis of surface vacuum annealed SrTiO3 . Appl. Phys. A 105, 103–109 (2011).
Tinkham, M. Introduction to Superconductivity Ch. 4, 2nd edn (Dover Publications, 2004).
Sun, Y. et al. High temperature superconducting FeSe films on SrTiO3 substrates. Sci. Rep. 4, 6040 (2014).
Lee, J. J. et al. Evidence for pairing enhancement in single unit cell FeSe on SrTiO3 due to cross-interfacial electron–phonon coupling. Preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.2633 (2013)
Coh, S., Cohen, M. L. & Louie, S. G. Structural template increases electron–phonon interaction in an FeSe monolayer. Preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.5657 (2014)
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge helpful discussions with X. Ma, L. Wang, W. Zhang, D. Feng, F. Zhang, N. Samarth and T. Leggett. Financial support from the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos 2012CB927400, 2011CB921902, 2013CB921902 and 2011CB922200), NSFC (Grant Nos 11227404, 11374206, 91021002, 11274228, 10904090, 11174199, 11134008, 11274229 and 1147198) and the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology, China (Grant Nos 12JC1405300, 13QH1401500 and 10JC1407100) is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J-F.G. and Z-L.L. conducted the experiments. C.L., Q-K.X. and J-F.J. designed the experiments and provided financial and other supports for the experiments. C.L, Y.L., Q-K.X., J-F.G., C-L.G., D.Q. and J-F.J. analysed the data. C.L, Y.L., Q-K.X., and J-F.J. wrote the paper.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (PDF 1423 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ge, JF., Liu, ZL., Liu, C. et al. Superconductivity above 100 K in single-layer FeSe films on doped SrTiO3. Nature Mater 14, 285–289 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4153
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4153
This article is cited by
-
Thickness dependence of superconductivity in layered GeP5
Rare Metals (2024)
-
Nanoscale inhomogeneity and the evolution of correlation strength in FeSe\(_{1-x}\)S\(_x\)
Nano Convergence (2023)
-
Vertex dominated superconductivity in intercalated FeSe
npj Quantum Materials (2023)
-
The Superconductivity and Structural Properties in FeSe0.5Te0.5 with Sb and Sm Additions
Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism (2023)
-
Exchange Bias in Tetragonal Fe1-xNixS Single Crystals with a Short-Range Antiferromagnetism
Journal of Low Temperature Physics (2023)