Reentrant superconductivity at an oxide heterointerface
Abstract
A magnetic field typically suppresses superconductivity by either breaking Cooper pairs via the Zeeman effect or inducing vortex formation. However, under certain circumstances, a magnetic field can stabilize superconductivity instead. This seemingly counterintuitive phenomenon is associated with magnetic interactions and has been extensively studied in three-dimensional materials. By contrast, this phenomenon, hinting at unconventional superconductivity, remains largely unexplored in two-dimensional systems, with moiré-patterned graphene being the only known example. Here, we report the observation of reentrant superconductivity at the epitaxial (110)-oriented LaTiO 3 -KTaO 3 interface. This phenomenon occurs across a wide range of charge carrier densities, which, unlike in three-dimensional materials, can be tuned in situ via electrostatic gating. We propose that the observed reentrant superconductivity can arise from an interplay between strong spin-orbit coupling and a magnetic field–driven modification of the Fermi surface. Our findings provide insight into reentrant superconductivity and establish a robust platform for exploring unconventional superconducting phenomena in two-dimensional systems.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides
Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Science Advances
- Publisher
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 26
- Pages
- eaeg0460–eaeg0460
- Publication date
- 24 June 2026
- Language
- EN