Signature of point nodal superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal PdTe

Abstract

Recent Angle-Resolved Photo-emission Spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 046402 (2023)] on PdTe, a 3D-Dirac semimetal and a superconductor with the transition temperature Tc ~ 4.3 K, have revealed compelling evidence of the presence of bulk nodes in the superconducting order parameter. To investigate the validity of this proposition, here we present a detailed investigation of the magnetic field dependence of the specific heat of PdTe down to temperatures ~ 58 mK. We observed that the low temperature specific heat of PdTe with an externally applied magnetic field exhibits a power-law field dependence, a characteristic of unconventional superconductivity. Furthermore, the zero-field low-temperature electronic specific heat follows a cubic temperature dependence, which is a signature of the presence of bulk point nodes in PdTe. These intriguing observations suggest that PdTe is a rare and fascinating topological material that exhibits both Dirac semimetallic properties and superconductivity with point nodal gap symmetry.