Also called t-PtBi₂, γ-PtBi₂, trigonal PtBi₂
A crystal whose surfaces superconduct while its interior does not. Trigonal PtBi2 is a Weyl semimetal, and the topological surface states that such materials must have – the Fermi arcs – become superconducting below about 10 K, with a gap that has nodes, the signature of unconventional pairing. A slab of it is therefore a natural superconductor–metal–superconductor sandwich, and theory predicts Majorana states at its surface steps: ingredients sought for topological quantum computing, here without any engineered interface.
Three layers of trigonal PtBi2. Each layer sits directly over the one below, so a single layer is the whole repeat: c = 6.16 Å. With every layer pointing the same way, the crystal has no inversion centre. Cell at room temperature from Shipunov and colleagues, Physical Review Materials 4, 124202 (2020).
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Broken inversion symmetry and strong spin–orbit coupling give twelve Weyl points near the Fermi energy and a large Rashba-like spin splitting along all three momentum directions. Superconductivity on the Fermi arcs is not the usual proximity problem: symmetry-allowed pairing between arcs mixes spin-singlet and spin-triplet channels, and photoemission finds gap nodes at the arc centres consistent with i-wave symmetry, from which Majorana cones and zero-energy flat bands at step edges follow. A slab is an intrinsic superconductor–semimetal–superconductor junction, predicted to host zero-energy Andreev bound states at a phase difference of π. For the monolayer, calculations point to a different state, a multiple topological insulator with a ladder of topological gaps.
The surface is the superconductor, so the probe decides what you see: photoemission and STM on fresh cleaves report gaps at 5–10 K, while transport through bulk crystals shows only a weak, inhomogeneous transition below ~1 K. Resolving the arc gap by photoemission needs high energy resolution at low temperature – laser sources showed it first, and synchrotron beamlines can with care. PtBi2 has several polymorphs, so confirm the trigonal phase by X-ray diffraction, and report flake thickness, because both surfaces contribute in thin flakes.
A research material. Its surface superconductivity is a candidate route to topological qubits without engineered interfaces, but that is far from devices. More immediately, air-stable PtBi2 flakes transferred as contact interlayers let WS2 transistors reach on/off ratios above 106, and the crystal emits broadband terahertz radiation with a nonlinear response about a hundred times that of conventional terahertz crystals. There is no wafer-scale growth.
The newest items tagged PtBi2, from the news feed updated 5 Oct 2026.
The orbital Hall conductivity (OHC) is central to orbitronics, yet its microscopic control remains largely unexplored. Here we identify a general mechanism in which tilted Weyl crossings formed by orbitally distinct bands generate a strongly asymmetric orbital Berry curvature (OBC) distribution, whose imbalance…
Recent experiments indicate that PtBi2 is a Weyl semimetal whose surfaces become topological superconductors with i-wave gap symmetry at low temperature. The bulk hosts 12 Weyl cones while in the superconducting state each of the two surfaces hosts in addition 6 Majorana cones. We study a simplified model in a slab…
Achieving nonvolatile and multistate manipulation of charge-spin conversion, including the Edelstein effect (EE) and spin Hall effect (SHE), is crucial for high-density spintronic memory. Here, we propose a mechanism to simultaneously control both EE and SHE in two-dimensional ferroelectric bilayers, where…
According to recent observations, the topological surface states of Weyl semimetals may develop a superconducting gap, while bulk superconductivity remains absent. What drives the formation of this novel superconducting state is an open question. Here, we show that this phenomenon can arise from the interaction of…
Orbital Hall conductivity (OHC) is a central ingredient of orbitronics, yet how to control it microscopically remains largely unexplored. Here we identify a general mechanism in which tilted Weyl crossings formed by orbitally distinct bands generate a strongly asymmetric orbital Berry curvature (OBC) distribution…
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