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Field-induced superconductivity in a magnetically doped two-dimensional crystal

Nature Physics (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

Magnetic-field-induced superconductivity is a rare property in nature because conventional Cooper pairs with spin-singlet symmetry are expected to be sensitive to perturbations that break time-reversal symmetry. However, in some cases, the interplay between finite magnetic fields and ions can be engineered to bring about superconductivity, despite the usual expectation. Here we demonstrate a magnetic-field-induced superconducting dome in a two-dimensional crystal of ultrathin LaSb2 doped with dilute Ce paramagnetic impurities. The reduced dimensionality of the structure enables the use of an in-plane magnetic field to dynamically suppress spin fluctuations on the Ce site, and this leads to an anomalous enhancement of the critical temperature with increasing field. By modelling the spin scattering dynamics across the experimental parameter space, we gain insights into the complex nature of paramagnetic impurities in magnetic fields at low temperature and how their manipulation can result in the ability to tune between competing magnetic pair-breaking regimes. Demonstrating this effect in a two-dimensional crystalline setting invites the application of similar approaches to unconventional forms of superconductivity.

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Fig. 1: Two-dimensional superconductivity in LaSb2 thin films.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.
Fig. 2: Field-induced superconductivity in Ce-doped LaSb2.
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Fig. 3: Perpendicular critical field behaviour for sample with vs = 0.89Tc.
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Fig. 4: Summary of data and fitting parameters for a sample with vs = 0.89Tc.
The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

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Data availability

The full experimental dataset is available via the Caltech Data server at https://data.caltech.edu/. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate discussions with M. Feigelman. We thank Y. Guan and the Caltech Microanalysis Center for secondary-ion mass spectroscopy measurements and the Beckman Institute for their support of the X-Ray Crystallography Facility at Caltech. Funding was provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant no. FA9550-22-1-0463 to J.F.), The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative (grant no. GBMF10638 to J.F.) and the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, an NSF Physics Frontiers Center (grant no. PHY-2317110 to J.F.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Adrian Llanos, Veronica Show, Reiley Dorrian & Joseph Falson

  2. Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Adrian Llanos, Veronica Show, Reiley Dorrian & Joseph Falson

Authors
  1. Adrian Llanos
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  2. Veronica Show
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  3. Reiley Dorrian
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Contributions

A.L. and J.F. conceived the project. A.L., V.S. and R.D. synthesized and characterized the films. A.L. and J.F. performed the low-temperature measurements. A.L. performed the fits and analysed the data. A.L. and J.F. prepared the figures. A.L. and J.F. wrote the paper with assistance from V.S. and R.D.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph Falson.

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Nature Physics thanks Shuyuan Huyan and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Discussion, Figs. 1–15 and Tables 1–7.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1 (download XLSX )

Data and fits for Fig. 1.

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Data and fits for Fig. 3.

Source Data Fig. 4 (download XLSX )

Data and fits for Fig. 4.

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Llanos, A., Show, V., Dorrian, R. et al. Field-induced superconductivity in a magnetically doped two-dimensional crystal. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03272-w

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