Elastocaloric Characterization of Multicomponent Superconductivity in TaS₂ Heterostructures

The TaS₂ family of van der Waals materials is known for exhibiting a rich array of correlated electron behaviors such as multiple charge-density waves and unconventional superconductivity. In particular, the 1H-TaS₂ and 1T-TaS₂ polytypes are superconducting and Mott insulating, respectively. These can be combined in mixed-layer stacking configurations to form the closely related 6R and 4Hb heterostructures, which are predicted to exhibit multi-component superconducting order parameters. Under in-plane strain, the superconducting state in these materials is expected to split into multiple distinct phases. To probe this behavior, we utilize the elastocaloric effect to distinguish between these phases and map the materials' strain-entropy landscapes. Our aim is to delineate the order parameters in mixed-stacking TaS₂ phases to provide insight into the nature of their superconducting behavior.