Nature Materials, Vol.17, No.6, 504-+, 2018
An unusual continuous paramagnetic-limited superconducting phase transition in 2D NbSe2
Time reversal and spatial inversion are two key symmetries for conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductivity(1). Breaking inversion symmetry can lead to mixedparity Cooper pairing and unconventional superconducting properties(1-5). Two-dimensional (2D) NbSe2 has emerged as a new non-centrosymmetric superconductor with the unique out-of-plane or Ising spin-orbit coupling (SOC)(6-9). Here we report the observation of an unusual continuous paramagnetic-limited superconductor-normal metal transition in 2D NbSe2. Using tunelling spectroscopy under high in-plane magnetic fields, we observe a continuous closing of the superconducting gap at the upper critical field at low temperatures, in stark contrast to the abrupt first-order transition observed in BCS thin-film superconductors(10-12). The paramagnetic-limited continuous transition arises from a large spin susceptibility of the superconducting phase due to the Ising SOC. The result is further supported by self-consistent mean-field calculations based on the ab initio band structure of 2D NbSe2. Our findings establish 2D NbSe2 as a promising platform to explore novel spin-dependent superconducting phenomena and device concepts(1), such as equal-spin Andreev reflection(13) and topological superconductivity(14-16).