Research Projects

In the field of quantum materials research, topological semimetals have recently emerged as a promising frontier, expanding the scope of topological materials beyond topological and crystalline insulators. Semimetals are characterized by a small but finite overlap between the bulk conduction and valence bands, and the absence of a full bandgap sets them apart from insulating materials. Topological semimetals are classified into two broad categories, topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals, based on band inversion. Nodal line and nonsymmorphic semimetals are newer members of the topological semimetal family. These topological semimetals exhibit a plethora of unconventional properties, including massless Weyl fermions, chiral anomalies, Fermi arc surface states, and nonlocal electrodynamics. The unique properties of these materials have the potential to enable new technologies and enhance our understanding of the collective behavior of electrons in condensed matter systems. Despite the extensive research on topological semimetals, the study of correlated electronic phenomena like magnetism and superconductivity has remained largely unexplored. Superconductivity in topological semimetals offers the possibility of exploring many new phenomena that are not observed in conventional superconductors. The complex interplay between crystal symmetry and topological states in superconducting topological semimetals may promote Cooper pairs with parallel spins, which are extremely rare. Such superconductors may exhibit elementary excitations that do not follow conventional Fermi/Bose statistics, enabling exotic properties like very high upper critical field and dissipation-less transport of spins, non-s-wave/time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductivity, among others, that are crucial for realizing topological superconductivity. Unfortunately, the experimental realization of superconductivity in intrinsic semimetals is rare, and only a limited number of topological semimetal superconductors have been identified, making it difficult to determine the exact superconducting pairing mechanism and the role of topological surface effects. Therefore, it is imperative to discover and study new topological semimetal superconductors to advance the field. The purpose of this proposal is to discover and characterize new bulk and different classes of superconducting topological semimetals. A pilot study has already been conducted, and the results are promising. By exploring new superconducting topological semimetals, we hope to unlock new discoveries and pave the way for advanced technologies.