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A topological superconductor tuned by electronic correlations

Lin, Haoran [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000344311823)·Jacobs, Christopher L. [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)]·Yan, Chenhui [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000254409536)·Nolan, Gillian M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000323569075)·Berruto, Gabriele [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0009000552178489)·Singleton, Patrick [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)]·Nguyen, Khanh Duy [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000273604564)·Bai, Yunhe [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000258896415)·Gao, Qiang [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000159924871)·Wu, Xianxin [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)] (ORCID:0009000439167120)·Liu, Chao-Xing [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318811365)·Yan, Gangbin [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000247119063)·Choi, Suin [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)]·Liu, Chong [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000348517888)·Guisinger, Nathan P. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)]·Huang, Pinshane Y. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000210951833)·Mandal, Subhasish [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)] (ORCID:0000000196624165)·Yang, Shuolong [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000282009898)
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Abstract

A topological superconductor, characterized by either a chiral order parameter or a topological surface state in proximity to bulk superconductivity, is foundational to topological quantum computing. A key open challenge is whether electron-electron interactions can tune such topological superconducting phases. Here, we provide experimental signatures of a unique topological superconducting phase in competition with electronic correlations in 10-unit-cell thick FeTe x Se 1-x films grown on SrTiO 3 substrates. When the Te content x exceeds 0.7, we observe a topological transition marked by the emergence of a superconducting surface state. Near the FeTe limit, the system undergoes another transition where the surface state disappears, and superconductivity is suppressed. Theory suggests that electron-electron interactions in the odd-parity xy− band drives this second topological transition. The flattening and eventual decoherence of d xy -derived bands track the superconducting dome, linking correlation effects directly to superconducting coherent transport. Our work establishes many-body electronic correlations as a sensitive knob for tuning topology and superconductivity, offering a pathway to engineer new topological phases in correlated materials.

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITYMBEelectronic correlationssuperconducting properties and materialstopological mattertopological superconductor

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Lin, Haoran [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000344311823), Jacobs, Christopher L. [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)], Yan, Chenhui [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000254409536), Nolan, Gillian M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000323569075), Berruto, Gabriele [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0009000552178489), Singleton, Patrick [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)], Nguyen, Khanh Duy [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000273604564), Bai, Yunhe [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000258896415), Gao, Qiang [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000159924871), Wu, Xianxin [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)] (ORCID:0009000439167120), Liu, Chao-Xing [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318811365), Yan, Gangbin [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000247119063), Choi, Suin [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)], Liu, Chong [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000348517888), Guisinger, Nathan P. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)], Huang, Pinshane Y. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000210951833), Mandal, Subhasish [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)] (ORCID:0000000196624165), Yang, Shuolong [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000282009898). 2025-12-26. A topological superconductor tuned by electronic correlations. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67957-1

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE subject75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY subjectMBE subjectSuperconducting properties and materials subjectelectronic correlations subjecttopological matter subjecttopological superconductor subject

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