Observation of flat-bottom U-shaped energy gap in high-Tc nickelate (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 thin films

Abstract

The discovery of high transition temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity in Ruddlesden-Popper (R-P) bilayer nickelates under high pressure has stimulated extensive work to understand the underlying mechanism and search for superconductors with higher Tc. The recent realization of superconductivity in R-P bilayer nickelate thin films with onset Tc above 40 K at ambient-pressure enables the use of a wide array of powerful experimental tools to investigate the unconventional high-Tc superconductivity in bilayer nickelates. Here, using ultra-low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) and electrical transport study, we report the first successful observation of an energy-symmetric, flat-bottom U-shaped gap with zero residual density of states around the Fermi level in the high-Tc nickelate (La,Pr)3Ni2O7 thin film grown on SrLaAlO4 substrate. Before and after STM/S studies, transport measurements on the same sample reveal consistent superconducting behaviors showing zero resistance, with an onset Tc above 40 K and zero resistance Tc above 20 K. The tunneling spectra exhibit highly unconventional temperature evolution, characterized by a rapid filling of the U-shaped energy gap to a V-shaped gap as the temperature increases. Furthermore, the U-shaped energy gap is reduced under a c-axis magnetic field of 14 T. The energy-symmetric U-shaped gap, taken together with its dependence on magnetic field and temperature, is consistent with the behavior of a superconducting gap, suggesting a nodeless gap function at ultra-low temperatures. Our findings shed new lights on the nature of high-Tc superconductivity and provide an encouraging and thought-provoking hint for a local superconductivity with Tc above liquid nitrogen boiling temperature in nickelate superconductors at ambient or zero pressure.