Induced superconductivity in graphene grown on rhenium

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Surface Science

Background:

• Strong coupling between 2D materials and superconductors is crucial for advanced electronic devices.
• Graphene's unique electronic properties make it a promising candidate for such hybrid systems.
• Previous methods faced challenges in achieving high-quality interfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a new method for strongly coupling graphene to a superconductor.
• To investigate the electronic properties of graphene grown directly on a superconducting substrate.
• To characterize the interface quality and superconducting behavior.

Main Methods:

• Direct growth of graphene monolayer on a superconducting Re(0001) thin film.
• Characterization using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS).
• Ab initio calculations to simulate observed moiré patterns.

Main Results:

• Successful growth of graphene on superconducting Re(0001) observed.
• A moiré pattern was detected due to lattice mismatch, with position-dependent electronic states.
• Tunneling spectroscopy at 50 mK confirmed superconducting behavior in graphene, consistent with Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory.

Conclusions:

• The direct growth method provides a strong coupling between graphene and the superconductor.
• The observed phenomena indicate a high-quality interface between graphene and the metallic substrate.
• This work paves the way for novel graphene-superconductor hybrid devices.