The Non-collinear Path to Topological Superconductivity

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Brüning, Reiner, Bedow, Jasmin, Conte, Roberto Lo, von Bergmann, Kirsten, Morr, Dirk. K., Wiesendanger, Roland
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866917060288708608
author Brüning, Reiner
Bedow, Jasmin
Conte, Roberto Lo
von Bergmann, Kirsten
Morr, Dirk. K.
Wiesendanger, Roland
author_facet Brüning, Reiner
Bedow, Jasmin
Conte, Roberto Lo
von Bergmann, Kirsten
Morr, Dirk. K.
Wiesendanger, Roland
contents Combining spin textures in ultra-thin films with conventional superconductors has emerged as a powerful and versatile platform for designing topologically non-trivial superconducting phases as well as spin-triplet Cooper pairs. As a consequence, two-dimensional magnet-superconductor hybrids (2D MSHs) are promising candidate systems to realize devices for topology-based quantum technologies and superconducting spintronics. So far, studies have focused mostly on systems hosting collinear ferromagnets or antiferromagnets. However, topologically non-trivial phases have been predicted to emerge in MSH systems with non-collinear spin textures as well. In this article, we present the experimental discovery of topological superconductivity in the MSH system Fe/Ta(110) where a magnetic spiral is realized in the Fe monolayer on the surface of the s-wave superconductor Ta. By combining low-temperature spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy measurements with theoretical modeling, we are able to conclude that the system is in a topological nodal-point superconducting phase with low-energy edge modes. Due to the non-collinear spin texture in our MSH system, these edge modes exhibit a magnetization direction-dependent dispersion. Furthermore, we identify direct signatures of Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the experimentally measured differential tunneling conductance. The present work realizes a non-collinear spin texture-based path to topological superconductivity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_14673
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Non-collinear Path to Topological Superconductivity
Brüning, Reiner
Bedow, Jasmin
Conte, Roberto Lo
von Bergmann, Kirsten
Morr, Dirk. K.
Wiesendanger, Roland
Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Combining spin textures in ultra-thin films with conventional superconductors has emerged as a powerful and versatile platform for designing topologically non-trivial superconducting phases as well as spin-triplet Cooper pairs. As a consequence, two-dimensional magnet-superconductor hybrids (2D MSHs) are promising candidate systems to realize devices for topology-based quantum technologies and superconducting spintronics. So far, studies have focused mostly on systems hosting collinear ferromagnets or antiferromagnets. However, topologically non-trivial phases have been predicted to emerge in MSH systems with non-collinear spin textures as well. In this article, we present the experimental discovery of topological superconductivity in the MSH system Fe/Ta(110) where a magnetic spiral is realized in the Fe monolayer on the surface of the s-wave superconductor Ta. By combining low-temperature spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy measurements with theoretical modeling, we are able to conclude that the system is in a topological nodal-point superconducting phase with low-energy edge modes. Due to the non-collinear spin texture in our MSH system, these edge modes exhibit a magnetization direction-dependent dispersion. Furthermore, we identify direct signatures of Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the experimentally measured differential tunneling conductance. The present work realizes a non-collinear spin texture-based path to topological superconductivity.
title The Non-collinear Path to Topological Superconductivity
topic Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.14673