Enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature by Re doping in Weyl semimetal MoTe2

This work presents the emergence of superconductivity in Re-substituted topological Weyl semimetal MoTe2. Re substitution for Mo sites leads to a sizable enhancement in the superconducting transition temperature (T-c). A record high T-c at ambient pressure in a 1T'-MoTe2 (room-temperature structure) related sample is observed for the Mo0.7Re0.3Te2 composition (T-c = 4.1 K; in comparison, MoTe2 shows a T-c of 0.1 K). The experimental and theoretical studies indicate that Re substitution is doping electrons and facilitates the emergence of superconductivity by enhancing the electron-phonon coupling and density of states at the Fermi level. Our findings, therefore, open a new way to further manipulate and enhance the superconducting state together with the topological states in two-dimensional van der Waals materials.