Superconductivity in a Bulk Analog of Moiré Materials

Superconductors may show anisotropic properties that reflect the symmetry of the material’s crystal lattice or of the order parameter of its ground state. Notable examples are quasi-two-dimensional superconductors with structurally decoupled superconducting layers, which exhibit enhanced resilience to B-fields directed between the 2D layers of their lattices. Here we report the observation of superconductivity in an atomically incommensurate material, a new bulk moiré material consisting of superconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers separated by lattice-mismatched monolayers in a naturally grown, exfoliatable van der Waals superlattice crystal. Using high-angular resolution magnetotransport measurements, we study the superconductivity and the anisotropic features derived from its quasi-2D and incommensurate structure. Our work shows how natural heterostructure design in bulk superlattice compounds can modify the superconducting state and uncover new ways in which moiré incommensurability can support novel material properties.