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Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
Polar charge density wave in a superconductor with crystallographic chirality
Shangfei Wu1,2, Fei-Ting Huang3,4, Xianghan Xu3,4,5
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA. wusf@baqis.ac.cn.
Researchers discovered superconductivity in single-crystalline Mo3Al2C, a material exhibiting both crystallographic polarity and chirality. This finding opens new avenues for exploring unconventional superconductors with unique structural properties.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Materials science
- Crystallography
Background:
- Symmetry is crucial for physical properties in condensed matter physics.
- Crystallographic polarity and chirality influence Cooper pairing in superconductors.
- The coexistence of polarity and chirality in superconductors has not been previously studied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the coexistence of crystallographic polarity and chirality in a superconducting material.
- To explore the impact of these properties on superconductivity.
- To identify new material realizations for studying unconventional superconductivity.
Main Methods:
- Transport measurements
- Raman scattering spectroscopy
- Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Main Results:
- Superconductivity was observed in single-crystalline Mo3Al2C with a critical temperature (Tc) of 8 K.
- The material exhibits a polar charge-density-wave phase and well-defined crystallographic chirality.
- A transition from noncentrosymmetric-nonpolar to polar state occurred below T*=155K due to charge density wave order, breaking translational and rotational symmetries.
- Superconductivity emerges in this polar and chiral crystal structure.
Conclusions:
- Mo3Al2C is the first superconductor found to possess both crystallographic polarity and chirality simultaneously.
- The study establishes Mo3Al2C as a unique platform for investigating unconventional superconductivity.
- Future research on superconductors with coexisting polarity and chirality is motivated.
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