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  • Letter
  • Open Access

From orbital to paramagnetic pair breaking in layered superconductor 2H−NbS2

D. Pizzirani1,2,*, T. Ottenbros1,2,*, M. van Rijssel1,2, O. Zheliuk1,2, Y. Kreminska3, M. Rösner2, J. F. Linnartz1,2, A. de Visser4, N. E. Hussey1,2,5 et al.

J. Ye3, S. Wiedmann1,2, and M. R. van Delft1,2,†

  • 1High Field Magnet Laboratory (HFML-EMFL), Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, Nijmegen 6525 ED, The Netherlands
  • 2Radboud University, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Nijmegen 6525 AJ, The Netherlands
  • 3Device Physics of Complex Materials, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
  • 4Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 5H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom

  • *These authors contributed equally.
  • †Contact author: maarten.vandelft@ru.nl
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Phys. Rev. Research 6, L042006 – Published 7 October, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L042006

Abstract

The superconducting transition-metal dichalcogenides 2H−NbSe2 and 2H−NbS2 are intensively studied on account of their unique electronic properties such as Ising superconductivity, found in multi- and monolayers, with upper critical fields beyond the Pauli limit. Even in bulk crystals, there are reports of multiband superconductivity and exotic states, such as the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase. In this work, we investigate the superconducting properties of 2H−NbS2 through a detailed high-field mapping of the phase diagram by means of magnetotransport and magnetostriction experiments. We compare the phase diagram between bulk crystals and a 6-nm-thick flake of 2H−NbS2 and find a drastically enhanced Maki parameter in the flake, signifying a change of the relevant pair-breaking mechanism from orbital to paramagnetic pair breaking, which we attribute to an effect of enhanced spin-orbit coupling.

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Phys. Rev. Research 6, L042006– Published 7 October, 2024
  • Received 4 April 2024
  • Revised 15 July 2024
  • Accepted 16 September 2024
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