Two-Dimensional Superconductivity of Ca-Intercalated Graphene on SiC: Vital Role of the Interface between Monolayer Graphene and the Substrate.

Ca-intercalation has enabled superconductivity in graphene on SiC. However, the atomic and electronic structures that are critical for superconductivity are still under discussion. We find an essential role of the interface between monolayer graphene and the SiC substrate for superconductivity. In the Ca-intercalation process, at the interface a carbon layer terminating SiC changes to graphene by Ca-termination of SiC (monolayer graphene becomes a bilayer), inducing more electrons than a free-standing model. Then, Ca is intercalated in between the graphene layers, which shows superconductivity with the updated critical temperature (TC) of up to 5.7 K. In addition, the relation between TC and the normal-state conductivity is unusual, "dome-shaped". These findings are beyond the simple C6CaC6 model in which s-wave BCS superconductivity is theoretically predicted. This work proposes a general picture of the intercalation-induced superconductivity in graphene on SiC and indicates the potential for superconductivity induced by other intercalants.

Soft-Magnetic Skyrmions Induced by Surface-State Coupling in an Intrinsic Ferromagnetic Topological Insulator Sandwich Structure.

A magnetic skyrmion induced on a ferromagnetic topological insulator (TI) is a real-space manifestation of the chiral spin texture in the momentum space and can be a carrier for information processing by manipulating it in tailored structures. Here, a sandwich structure containing two layers of a self-assembled ferromagnetic septuple-layer TI, Mn(Bi1-xSbx)2Te4 (MnBST), separated by quintuple layers of TI, (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 (BST), is fabricated and skyrmions are observed through the topological Hall effect in an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator for the first time. The thickness of BST spacer layer is crucial in controlling the coupling between the gapped topological surface states in the two MnBST layers to stabilize the skyrmion formation. The homogeneous, highly ordered arrangement of the Mn atoms in the septuple-layer MnBST leads to a strong exchange interaction therein, which makes the skyrmions "soft magnetic". This would open an avenue toward a topologically robust rewritable magnetic memory.