Scanning tunneling measurements of layers of superconducting 2H-TaSe 2: Evidence for a zero-bias anomaly in single layers

Abstract

We report a characterization of surfaces of the dichalcogenide TaSe2 using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at 150 mK. When the top layer has the 2H structure and the layer immediately below the 1T structure, we find a singular spatial dependence of the tunneling conductance below 1 K, changing from a zero-bias peak on top of Se atoms to a gap in between Se atoms. The zero-bias peak is additionally modulated by the commensurate 3a0 × 3a0 charge-density wave of 2H-TaSe2. Multilayers of 2H-TaSe2 show a spatially homogeneous superconducting gap with a critical Temperature also of 1 K. We discuss possible origins for the peculiar tunneling conductance in single layers