Enhanced superconductivity in spin–orbit proximitized bilayer graphene.

In the presence of a large perpendicular electric field, Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) features several broken-symmetry metallic phases1–3 as well as magnetic-field-induced superconductivity1. The superconducting state is quite fragile, however, appearing only in a narrow window of density and with a maximum critical temperature T_c ≈ 30 mK. Here we show that placing monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) on BLG promotes Cooper pairing to an extraordinary degree: superconductivity appears at zero magnetic field, exhibits an order of magnitude enhancement in T_c and occurs over a density range that is wider by a factor of eight. By mapping quantum oscillations in BLG–WSe₂ as a function of electric field and doping, we establish that superconductivity emerges throughout a region for which the normal state is polarized, with two out of four spin-valley flavours predominantly populated. In-plane magnetic field measurements further reveal that superconductivity in BLG–WSe₂ can exhibit striking dependence of the critical field on doping, with the Chandrasekhar–Clogston (Pauli) limit roughly obeyed on one end of the superconducting dome, yet sharply violated on the other. Moreover, the superconductivity arises only for perpendicular electric fields that push BLG hole wavefunctions towards WSe₂, indicating that proximity-induced (Ising) spin–orbit coupling plays a key role in stabilizing the pairing. Our results pave the way for engineering robust, highly tunable and ultra-clean graphene-based superconductors.Placing monolayer tungsten diselenide on Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene promotes enhanced superconductivity, indicating that proximity-induced spin–orbit coupling plays a key role in stabilizing the pairing, paving the way for engineering tunable, ultra-clean graphene-based superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]