Magnetic field enhanced single particle tunneling in MoS₂–superconductor vertical Josephson junction

As a prototypical transition-metal dichalcogenide semiconductor, MoS₂ possesses strong spin–orbit coupling, which provides an ideal platform for the realization of interesting physical phenomena. Here, we report the magnetotransport properties in NbN–MoS₂–NbN sandwich junctions at low temperatures. Above the critical temperature around ∼11 K, the junction resistance shows weak temperature dependence, indicating a tunneling behavior. While below ∼11 K, nearly zero junction resistance is observed, indicating the superconducting state in the MoS₂ layer induced by the superconducting proximity effect. When a perpendicular magnetic field ∼1 T is applied, such proximity effect is suppressed, accompanying with insulator-like temperature-dependence of the junction resistance. Intriguingly, when further increasing the magnetic field, the junction conductance is significantly enhanced, which is related to the enhanced single particle tunneling induced by the decrease of the superconducting energy gap with increasing magnetic fields. In addition, the possible Majorana zero mode on the surface of MoS₂ can further lead to the enhancement of the junction conductance. (special topic)