DOE OSTI · 3027528
Cavity-altered superconductivity
Abstract
Is it feasible to alter the ground-state properties of a material by engineering its electromagnetic environment? Inspired by theoretical predictions, experimental realizations of such cavity-controlled properties without optical excitation are beginning to emerge. Here we devised and implemented a new platform to realize cavity-altered materials. Single crystals of hyperbolic van der Waals (vdW) compounds provide a resonant electromagnetic environment with enhanced density of photonic states and prominent mode confinement. We interfaced hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with the molecular superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF) 2 Cu[N(CN) 2 ]Br (κ-ET). The frequencies of infrared hyperbolic modes (HMs) of hBN match the infrared-active carbon–carbon (C=C) stretching molecular resonance of κ-ET implicated in superconductivity. Nano-optical data supported by first-principles molecular Langevin dynamics simulations confirm the presence of resonant coupling between the hBN hyperbolic cavity modes and the C=C stretching mode in κ-ET. Meissner-effect measurements using magnetic force microscopy (MFM) demonstrate a strong suppression of superfluid density near the hBN/κ-ET interface. Non-resonant control heterostructures, including RuCl 3 /κ-ET and hBN/Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+x (BSCCO), do not show the pronounced superfluid suppression. These observations suggest that hBN/κ-ET realizes a cavity-altered superconducting ground state. Our work highlights the potential of dark cavities devoid of external photons for engineering electronic ground-state properties of complex quantum materials.
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Keren, Itai [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000216774049), Webb, Tatiana A. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156942863), Zhang, Shuai [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000321582495), Xu, Jikai [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0009000995358403), Sun, Dihao [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)], Kim, Brian S. Y. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000230244220), Shin, Dongbin [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany); Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (Korea, Republic of)], Zhang, Songtian S. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)], Zhang, Junhe [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)], Pereira, Giancarlo [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000258696886), Yao, Juntao [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000243391027), Okugawa, Takuya [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany)], Michael, Marios H. [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000345798792), Boström, Emil Viñas [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000233184454), Edgar, James H. [Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States)] (ORCID:0000000309185964), Wolf, Stuart [Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA (United States). Deep Science Fund (DSF)], Julian, Matthew [Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA (United States). Deep Science Fund (DSF)], Prasankumar, Rohit P. [Intellectual Ventures, Bellevue, WA (United States). Deep Science Fund (DSF)] (ORCID:0000000309022831), Miyagawa, Kazuya [Univ. of Tokyo (Japan)] (ORCID:0000000348417713), Kanoda, Kazushi [Univ. of Tokyo (Japan); Max Planck Institute of Solid State Research, Stuttgart (Germany); Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany)], Gu, Genda [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)], Cothrine, Matthew [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)], Mandrus, David [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000336167104), Buzzi, Michele [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000173254632), Cavalleri, Andrea [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany); Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000231430850), Dean, Cory R. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000329675960), Kennes, Dante M. [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany); RWTH Aachen Univ. (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000298386866), Millis, Andrew J. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Flatiron Institute, New York, NY (United States)], Li, Qiang [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000212304832), Sentef, Michael A. [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany); Univ. of Bremen (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000279460282), Rubio, Angel [Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg (Germany); Flatiron Institute, New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000320603151), Pasupathy, Abhay N. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227440634), Basov, D. N. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000197855387). 2026-02-25. Cavity-altered superconductivity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-10062-6
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