Multimodal sub-kelvin synchrotron diffraction as a probe of the origin of nematic pinning in the candidate topological superconductor Sr<sub>0.1</sub>Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>
ORAL
Abstract
In the superconducting doped topological insulator SrxBi2Se3 (Tc ~ 3.1 K), a pronounced two-fold in-plane symmetry is observed in electronic properties below Tc, despite the three-fold symmetry of the R-3m space group. The axis of symmetry is always pinned to one of three rotational equivalent directions; crystallographic strain has been proposed to be the origin of this pinning. Here, we present multimodal synchrotron diffraction measurements down to ~0.7 K on a single crystal of Sr0.1Bi2Se3 combining in-situ resistivity measurements and XRD. Magnetic fields up to 4.5 T were also applied. We find no crystallographic distortions from the normal-state structure to 1 part in 104 indicating that the two-fold anisotropy is not caused by structural distortions but is electronic in origin.
*Work at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. This research used resources of the APS, a US DOE Scientific User Facility, operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.
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Presenters
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Matthew Smylie
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hofstra University