Using controlled disorder to probe the interplay between charge order and superconductivity in NbSe(2)

The interplay between superconductivity and charge-density wave (CDW) in 2H-NbSe(2) is not fully understood despite decades of study. Artificially introduced disorder can tip the delicate balance between two competing long-range orders, and reveal the underlying interactions that give rise to them. Here we introduce disorder by electron irradiation and measure in-plane resistivity, Hall resistivity, X-ray scattering, and London penetration depth. With increasing disorder, the superconducting transition temperature, T(c), varies non-monotonically, whereas the CDW transition temperature, T(CDW), monotonically decreases and becomes unresolvable above a critical irradiation dose where T(c) drops sharply. Our results imply that the CDW order initially competes with superconductivity, but eventually assists it. We argue that at the transition where the long-range CDW order disappears, the cooperation with superconductivity is dramatically suppressed. X-ray scattering and Hall resistivity measurements reveal that the short-range CDW survives above the transition. Superconductivity persists to much higher dose levels, consistent with fully gapped superconductivity and moderate interband pairing.