Interface effects unlock unusual superconductivity in a light-element superconductor
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Subjects Superconducting properties and materialsSurfaces, interfaces and thin films A heterostructure comprising a trilayer of gallium, sandwiched between graphene and silicon carbide, exhibits Ising-type superconductivity driven by quantum confinement and interfacial orbital hybridization. This light-element superconductor retains its superconductivity under in-plane magnetic fields three times larger than the Pauli paramagnetic limit of conventional superconductors. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $21.58 per issue Learn more Buy this articlePurchase on SpringerLinkInstant access to the full article PDF.USD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Fig. 1: Pauli-limit violation and Ising-type spin textures in a Ga heterostructure.The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. ReferencesLu, J. M. et al. Evidence for two-dimensional Ising superconductivity in gated MoS2. Science 350, 1353–1357 (2015). This article describes the experimental demonstration of Ising superconductivity in a gated 2D material, establishing spin–valley-locked Cooper pairing as a distinct pairing mechanism.Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Xi, X. et al. Ising pairing in superconducting NbSe2 atomic layers. Nat. Phys. 12, 139–143 (2016). This work demonstrates Ising superconductivity in monolayer NbSe2 and establishes a framework for analysing in-plane upper critical magnetic fields in Ising superconductors.Article CAS Google Scholar Falson, J. et al. Type-II Ising pairing in few-layer stanene. Science 367, 1454–1457 (2020). This paper reports the observation of Ising superconductivity in few-layer stanene, in which spin splitting occurs at the Γ point, in contrast to MoS2 and NbSe2, which exhibit splitting at the K and K’ valleys.Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Briggs, N. et al. Atomically thin half-van der Waals metals enabled by confinement heteroepitaxy. Nat. Mater. 19, 637–643 (2020). This work introduces plasma-assisted confinement heteroepitaxy as a technique for synthesizing atomically thin 2D Ga and related metal films.Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Zhou, B. T., Yuan, N. F. Q., Jiang, H.-L. & Law, K. T. Ising superconductivity and Majorana fermions in transition-metal dichalcogenides. Phys. Rev. B 93, 180501 (2016). This theoretical work shows that Ising superconductors can host Majorana modes.Article Google Scholar Download referencesAdditional informationPublisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.This is a summary of: Yi, H. et al. Orbital-hybridization-induced Ising-type superconductivity in a confined gallium layer. Nat. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02573-y (2026).Rights and permissionsReprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this article Interface effects unlock unusual superconductivity in a light-element superconductor. Nat. Mater. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02605-7Download citationPublished: 01 May 2026Version of record: 01 May 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-026-02605-7Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative Orbital-hybridization-induced Ising-type superconductivity in a confined gallium layer Hemian YiYunzhe LiuCui-Zu Chang Nature Materials Article 13 Apr 2026