Liquid-gated interface superconductivity on an atomically flat film

Abstract

Liquid/solid interfaces are attracting growing interest not only for applications in catalytic activities and energy storage, but also for their new electronic functions in electric double-layer transistors (EDLTs) exemplified by high-performance organic electronics, field-induced electronic phase transitions, as well as superconductivity in SrTiO(3) (ref. 12). Broadening EDLTs to induce superconductivity within other materials is highly demanded for enriching the materials science of superconductors. However, it is severely hampered by inadequate choice of materials and processing techniques. Here we introduce an easy method using ionic liquids as gate dielectrics, mechanical micro-cleavage techniques for surface preparation, and report the observation of field-induced superconductivity showing a transition temperature T(c)=15.2 K on an atomically flat film of layered nitride compound, ZrNCl. The present result reveals that the EDLT is an extremely versatile tool to induce electronic phase transitions by electrostatic charge accumulation and provides new routes in the search for superconductors beyond those synthesized by traditional chemical methods.