Discovery of a Cooper-pair density wave state in a transition-metal dichalcogenide

Among the most intriguing of the many phases of cuprate superconductors is the so-called pair density wave (PDW) state. PDW is characterized by a spatially modulated density of Cooper pairs and can be detected with a scanning tunneling microscope equipped with a superconducting tip. Liu et al. used Josephson tunneling microscopy, modified for the task, to detect PDW in niobium diselenide, a superconductor with a layered hexagonal structure. The PDW state is expected to appear in other transition metal dichalcogenides as well. Science , abd4607, this issue p. 1447 Josephson tunneling microscopy is used to detect an unusual state in NbSe 2 , a layered superconductor. Pair density wave (PDW) states are defined by a spatially modulating superconductive order parameter. To search for such states in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), we used high-speed atomic-resolution scanned Josephson-tunneling microscopy. We detected a PDW state whose electron-pair density and energy gap modulate spatially at the wave vectors of the preexisting charge density wave (CDW) state. The PDW couples linearly to both the s -wave superconductor and the CDW and exhibits commensurate domains with discommensuration phase slips at the boundaries, conforming those of the lattice-locked commensurate CDW. Nevertheless, we found a global δ Φ ≅ ± 2 π / 3 phase difference between the PDW and CDW states, possibly owing to the Cooper-pair wave function orbital content. Our findings presage pervasive PDW physics in the many other TMDs that sustain both CDW and superconducting states.