New material with wavy layers of atoms exhibits unusual superconducting properties

Phys.org  September 19, 2024 Bulk van der Waals (vdW) superlattices hosting 2D interfaces between minimally disordered layers represent scalable bulk analogues of artificial vdW heterostructures and present a complementary venue to explore incommensurately modulated 2D states. An international team of researchers in the (USA- MIT, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Harvard, Japan) reported the bulk vdW superlattice SrTa2S5 realizing an incommensurate one-dimensional (1D) structural modulation of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) H-TaS2 layers. High-quality electronic transport in the H-TaS2 layers was made anisotropic by the modulation and exhibited commensurability oscillations paralleling lithographically modulated 2D systems. They found unconventional, clean-limit superconductivity […]