Bulk superconducting phase with a full energy gap in the doped topological insulator Cu_xBi₂Se₃

The superconductivity recently found in the doped topological insulator Cu_xBi_2Se_3 offers a great opportunity to search for a topological superconductor. We have successfully prepared a single-crystal sample with a large shielding fraction and measured the specific-heat anomaly associated with the superconductivity. The temperature dependence of the specific heat suggests a fully-gapped, strong-coupling superconducting state, but the BCS theory is not in full agreement with the data, which hints at a possible unconventional pairing in Cu_xBi_2Se_3. Also, the evaluated effective mass of 2.6m_e (m_e is the free electron mass) points to a large mass enhancement in this material.