Visualization of defect-induced interband proximity effect at the nanoscale

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gozlinski, Thomas, Li, Qili, Heid, Rolf, Kurnosikov, Oleg, Haas, Alexander, Nemoto, Ryohei, Yamada, Toyo Kazu, Schmalian, Joerg, Wulfhekel, Wulf
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Gozlinski, Thomas
Li, Qili
Heid, Rolf
Kurnosikov, Oleg
Haas, Alexander
Nemoto, Ryohei
Yamada, Toyo Kazu
Schmalian, Joerg
Wulfhekel, Wulf
author_facet Gozlinski, Thomas
Li, Qili
Heid, Rolf
Kurnosikov, Oleg
Haas, Alexander
Nemoto, Ryohei
Yamada, Toyo Kazu
Schmalian, Joerg
Wulfhekel, Wulf
contents The vast majority of superconductors have more than one Fermi surface, on which the electrons pair below the critical temperature $T_C$, yet their superconducting behavior can be well described by a single-band Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. This is mostly due to interband scattering, especially in superconductors in the dirty limit, rigidly linking the pairing amplitude of the different bands. This effect has severely limited experimental studies of the complex physics of multiband superconductivity. In this study, we utilize the fact that elementary Pb - as a clean limit system - has two Fermi surfaces that are only weakly coupled by interband scattering, allowing the formation of two separate condensates. By studying crystallographic defects in the form of stacking fault tetrahedra with our millikelvin scanning tunneling microscope, we show how to locally tune interband coupling ranging from weak to strong coupling and modify the superconducting order parameters from two well separated gaps to one merged gap around defects. The experiments critically test the theory of multiband superconductors and give a route to access a wide range of predicted quantum effects in these systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_06072
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Visualization of defect-induced interband proximity effect at the nanoscale
Gozlinski, Thomas
Li, Qili
Heid, Rolf
Kurnosikov, Oleg
Haas, Alexander
Nemoto, Ryohei
Yamada, Toyo Kazu
Schmalian, Joerg
Wulfhekel, Wulf
Superconductivity
Materials Science
The vast majority of superconductors have more than one Fermi surface, on which the electrons pair below the critical temperature $T_C$, yet their superconducting behavior can be well described by a single-band Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. This is mostly due to interband scattering, especially in superconductors in the dirty limit, rigidly linking the pairing amplitude of the different bands. This effect has severely limited experimental studies of the complex physics of multiband superconductivity. In this study, we utilize the fact that elementary Pb - as a clean limit system - has two Fermi surfaces that are only weakly coupled by interband scattering, allowing the formation of two separate condensates. By studying crystallographic defects in the form of stacking fault tetrahedra with our millikelvin scanning tunneling microscope, we show how to locally tune interband coupling ranging from weak to strong coupling and modify the superconducting order parameters from two well separated gaps to one merged gap around defects. The experiments critically test the theory of multiband superconductors and give a route to access a wide range of predicted quantum effects in these systems.
title Visualization of defect-induced interband proximity effect at the nanoscale
topic Superconductivity
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.06072