Spin-triplet superconductivity from interband effect in doped insulators

Abstract

Despite being of fundamental importance and potential interest for topological quantum computing, spin-triplet superconductors remain rare in solid state materials after decades of research. In this work, we present a general mechanism for spin-triplet superconductivity in multi-band systems, where a non-retarded pairing interaction between conduction electrons is produced by their electronic repulsion to a third-electron undergoing a virtual interband transition. Our theory is analytically controlled by an interband hybridization parameter, and explicitly demonstrated in doped band insulators with the example of an extended Hubbard model. In light of this theory, we propose that recently discovered dilute superconductors such as ZrNCl and WTe$_2$ are spin-triplet, and compare the expected consequences of our theory with experimental data.