Anomalous Quantum Metal in a 2D Crystalline Superconductor with Electronic Phase Nonuniformity

The details of the superconducting to quantum metal transition (SQMT) at T = 0 are an open problem that invokes great interest in the nature of this exotic and unexpected ground state (Ephron et al., 1996; Mason and Kapitulnik, 1999; Chervenak and Valles, 2000). However, the SQMT was not yet investigated in a crystalline 2D superconductor with coexisting and fluctuating quantum orders. Here, we report the observation of a SQMT in 2D ion-gel-gated 1T-TiSe₂ (Li et al., 2016) driven by a magnetic field. A field-induced crossover between Bose quantum metal and vortex quantum creeping with an increasing field is observed. We discuss the interplay between superconducting and CDW fluctuations (discommensurations) and their relation to the anomalous quantum metal (AQM) phase. From our findings, gate-tunable 1T-TiSe₂ emerges as a privileged platform to scrutinize, in a controlled way, the details of the SQMT, the role of coexisting fluctuating orders and, ultimately, to obtain a deeper understanding of the fate of superconductivity in strictly two-dimensional crystals near zero temperature.