2025/09/28 by Ahn, Cheong-Eung, Lee, Gyeoul, Seo, Donghae +2
#FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.23904
Twisted bilayer MoTe2 near two-degree twists has emerged as a platform for exotic correlated topological phases, including ferromagnetism and a non-Abelian fractional spin Hall insulator. Here we reveal the unexpected emergence of an intervalley superconducting phase that intervenes between these two states in the half-filled second moiré bands. Using a continuum model and exact diagonalization, we identify superconductivity through multiple signatures: negative binding energy, a dominant pair-density eigenvalue, finite superfluid stiffness, and pairing symmetry consistent with a time-reversal-symmetric nodal extended s-wave state. Remarkably, our numerical calculation suggests a continuous transition between superconductivity and the non-Abelian fractional spin Hall insulator, in which topology and symmetry evolve simultaneously, supported by an effective field-theory description. Our results establish higher moiré bands as fertile ground for intertwined superconductivity and topological order, and point to experimentally accessible routes for realizing superconductivity in twisted bilayer MoTe2.