Abstract
We study superconductivity in a three-dimensional zero-density Dirac semimetal in proximity to a ferroelectric quantum critical point. We find that the interplay of criticality, inversion-symmetry breaking, and Dirac dispersion gives rise to a robust superconducting state at the charge-neutrality point, where no Fermi surface is present. Using Eliashberg theory, we show that the ferroelectric quantum critical point is unstable against the formation of a ferroelectric density wave (FDW), whose fluctuations, in turn, lead to a first-order superconducting transition. Surprisingly, long-range superconducting and FDW orders are found to cooperate with each other, in contrast to the more usual scenario of phase competition. Therefore, we suggest that driving charge neutral Dirac materials, e.g., PbxSn1-xTe, through a ferroelectric quantum critical point may lead to superconductivity intertwined with FDW order.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 237001 |
| Journal | Physical review letters |
| Volume | 129 |
| Issue number | 23 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We acknowledge helpful discussions with A. Chubukov, M. Gastiasoro, D. Maslov, and T. Trevisan. V. K. was supported by the Quantum Materials program at LBNL, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Work by A. K. (while at the University of Minnesota) and R. M. F. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the University of Minnesota Center for Quantum Materials, under Grant No. DE-SC-0016371. The final stage of the work by A. K. and J. R. was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the Directorate for Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), Grant No. 3467/21. The final stage of the work by V. K. was performed in part at Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1607611 and by a grant from the Simons Foundation.
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