Experiments show that the Weyl semimetal ${\mathrm{PtBi}}_2$ hosts unconventional superconductivity in its topological surface states. Hence, the material is a candidate for intrinsic topological superconductivity. Measurements indicate nodal gaps in the center of the Fermi arcs. We derive that anisotropic electron-phonon coupling on Weyl semimetal surfaces, combined with statically screened Coulomb repulsion, is a microscopic mechanism for this nodal pairing. The dominant solution of the linearized gap equation shows nodal gaps when the surface state bandwidth is comparable to the maximum phonon energy, as is the case in ${\mathrm{PtBi}}_2$. We further predict that, if the screening of Coulomb interaction on the surface is enhanced by Coulomb engineering, the superconducting gap becomes nodeless, and the critical temperature increases.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Electron-phonon coupling
• Fermi surface
• Majorana fermions
• Phonons
• Spin-orbit coupling
• Topological quantum computing
• Topological superconductors
• Topological materials
• Unconventional superconductors
• Weyl semimetal
• BCS theory
• Topology