Superconductivity and topological aspects of the rocksalt carbides NbC and TaC

Tian Shang, Jianzhou Zhao, Dariusz Jakub Gawryluk, M. Shi, M. Medarde, E. Pomjakushina, T. Shiroka

Abstract

Superconducting materials with a nontrivial band structure are promising candidates in the search for topological superconductivity. The rocksalt carbides NbC and TaC are two fully gapped superconductors with relatively high critical temperatures (${T}_{c}$ = 11.0 and 10.3 K, respectively). They exhibit three closed node lines in the bulk band structure protected by time-reversal and space-inversion symmetry. By combining muon spin rotation and relaxation investigations with theoretical calculations, the authors demonstrate that rocksalt NbC is a potential topological superconductor.

Locations

• Physical review. B./Physical review. B - View
• arXiv (Cornell University) - View - PDF
• DORA PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) - View - PDF
• DataCite API - View