Superconductivity in charge Kondo systems

We report results of low-temperature thermodynamic and transport measurements of Pb_{1-x}Tl_{x}Te single crystals for Tl concentrations up to the solubility limit of approximately x = 1.5%. For all doped samples, we observe a low-temperature resistivity upturn that scales in magnitude with the Tl concentration. The temperature and field dependence of this upturn are consistent with a charge Kondo effect involving degenerate Tl valence states differing by two electrons, with a...

Tl-doped PbTe (Pb_{1-x}Tl_{x}Te) is an anomalous superconductor with a remarkably high maximum T_c value given its relatively low carrier concentration. Here, we present results of systematic measurements of superconducting parameters for this material, for Tl concentrations up to x = 1.4%. We find that it is a Type II, weak-coupled BCS superconductor in the dirty limit and discuss implications for the applicability of the charge Kondo model recently proposed to account for s...

Recent evidence for a charge-Kondo effect in superconducting samples of Pb$_{1-x}$Tl$_x$Te [1] has brought renewed attention to the possibility of negative U superconductivity in this material, associated with valence fluctuations on the Tl impurity sites [2]. Here, we use indium as an electron-donor to counterdope Pb$_{.99}$Tl$_{.01}$Te and study the effect of the changing chemical potential on the Kondo-like physics and on the superconducting critical temperature, $T_c$. We...

Upon doping with Tl the narrow band-gap semiconductor PbTe exhibits anomalously high temperature superconductivity despite a very low carrier density as well as signatures of the Kondo effect despite an absence of magnetic moments. These phenomena have been explained by invoking 2$e$ fluctuations of the valence of the Tl dopants but a direct measurement of the mixed-valency implied by such a mechanism has not been reported to date. In this work we present the unambiguous obse...

We develop a theoretical proposal for the charge Kondo effect in mesoscopic normal-superconductor-normal heterostructures, where the superconducting gap exceeds the electrostatic charging energy. Charge-Kondo correlations in these devices alter the conventional temperature-dependence of Andreev reflection and electron cotunneling. We predict typical Kondo temperatures of $\gtrsim 10 {\rm mK}$, and suggest experimental architectures that combine superconducting charge-qubits w...

We investigate the properties of PbTe doped with a small concentration $x$ of Tl impurities acting as acceptors and described by Anderson impurities with negative onsite correlation energy. We use the numerical renormalization group method to show that the resulting charge Kondo effect naturally accounts for the unusual low temperature and doping dependence of normal state properties, including the self-compensation effect in the carrier density and the non-magnetic Kondo ano...

We report a ^{125}Te-NMR study of single-crystalline Pb_{1-x}Tl_{x}Te for x= 0 (undoped non-superconducting "parent"), 0.35 at% (doped but on the borderline of superconductivity), and 1.0 at% (superconducting, with a critical temperature Tc ~ 1.0 K). The Knight shift in the normal state is enhanced as x increases, corresponding to an increase in the average density of states (DOS). The NMR line-width also increases significantly with increasing x, indicative of a strong spati...

We discuss the effect of multichannel Kondo impurities on superconductivity. In the strong coupling regime such impurities are pairbreakers, in contrast to the ordinary Kondo effect. Measurements of $T_c$-suppression may help in identifying impurities displaying this more exotic exchange coupling to the conduction band.

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the evolution of the Fermi surface of the anomalous superconductor Pb$_{1-x}$Tl$_x$Te as a function of thallium concentration, drawing on a combination of magnetotransport measurements (Shubnikov de Haas oscillations and Hall coefficient), Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the electronic structure. Our results indicate that for Tl concentrations bey...

We study the Kondo physics of a quantum magnetic impurity in two-dimensional topological superconductors (TSCs), either intrinsic or induced on the surface of a bulk topological insulator, using a numerical renormalization group technique. We show that, despite sharing the p + ip pairing symmetry, intrinsic and extrinsic TSCs host different physical processes that produce distinct Kondo signatures. Extrinsic TSCs harbor an unusual screening mechanism involving both electron a...