Discovery of a nonsymmorphic superconductor with spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking and nontrivial zero modes

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Hauptverfasser: Guo, Hui, Li, Zhixuan, Lv, Senhao, Gao, Tianqi, Huang, Zihao, Hao, Kuanrong, Zhang, Lizhi, Zhu, Ke, Li, Siyu, Han, Xianghe, Lin, Xiao, Qin, Shengshan, Zhou, Wu, Yang, Haitao, Chen, Hui, Gao, Hong-Jun
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Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Guo, Hui
Li, Zhixuan
Lv, Senhao
Gao, Tianqi
Huang, Zihao
Hao, Kuanrong
Zhang, Lizhi
Zhu, Ke
Li, Siyu
Han, Xianghe
Lin, Xiao
Qin, Shengshan
Zhou, Wu
Yang, Haitao
Chen, Hui
Gao, Hong-Jun
author_facet Guo, Hui
Li, Zhixuan
Lv, Senhao
Gao, Tianqi
Huang, Zihao
Hao, Kuanrong
Zhang, Lizhi
Zhu, Ke
Li, Siyu
Han, Xianghe
Lin, Xiao
Qin, Shengshan
Zhou, Wu
Yang, Haitao
Chen, Hui
Gao, Hong-Jun
contents Topological superconductivity has attracted great interest due to its fundamental significance for realizing Majorana quasiparticles and fault-tolerant quantum computation. Nonsymmorphic superconductors, with symmetry-protected nontrivial electronic structures, offer a promising route to exotic topological superconducting states, yet experimental realizations remain scarce. Here we identify nonsymmorphic compound PtPb4 as a robust platform hosting superconductivity with spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking and nontrivial zero-energy modes. PtPb4 crystallizes in a frustrated Shastry-Sutherland lattice and exhibits nontrivial band topology. By combining in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity measurements, pronounced twofold anisotropy is observed in both the superconducting state and the upper critical field, evidencing spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy further reveal twofold-symmetric magnetic vortices, providing direct real-space evidence for the symmetry-broken superconducting state. Notably, a robust zero-energy vortex bound state emerges and persists without spatial splitting over extended distances, consistent with the characteristics expected for Majorana bound state. These findings uncover an exotic superconducting state in PtPb4 and establish a promising platform for exploring topological superconductivity and superconducting quantum devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11395
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Discovery of a nonsymmorphic superconductor with spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking and nontrivial zero modes
Guo, Hui
Li, Zhixuan
Lv, Senhao
Gao, Tianqi
Huang, Zihao
Hao, Kuanrong
Zhang, Lizhi
Zhu, Ke
Li, Siyu
Han, Xianghe
Lin, Xiao
Qin, Shengshan
Zhou, Wu
Yang, Haitao
Chen, Hui
Gao, Hong-Jun
Superconductivity
Topological superconductivity has attracted great interest due to its fundamental significance for realizing Majorana quasiparticles and fault-tolerant quantum computation. Nonsymmorphic superconductors, with symmetry-protected nontrivial electronic structures, offer a promising route to exotic topological superconducting states, yet experimental realizations remain scarce. Here we identify nonsymmorphic compound PtPb4 as a robust platform hosting superconductivity with spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking and nontrivial zero-energy modes. PtPb4 crystallizes in a frustrated Shastry-Sutherland lattice and exhibits nontrivial band topology. By combining in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity measurements, pronounced twofold anisotropy is observed in both the superconducting state and the upper critical field, evidencing spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy further reveal twofold-symmetric magnetic vortices, providing direct real-space evidence for the symmetry-broken superconducting state. Notably, a robust zero-energy vortex bound state emerges and persists without spatial splitting over extended distances, consistent with the characteristics expected for Majorana bound state. These findings uncover an exotic superconducting state in PtPb4 and establish a promising platform for exploring topological superconductivity and superconducting quantum devices.
title Discovery of a nonsymmorphic superconductor with spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking and nontrivial zero modes
topic Superconductivity
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11395