Finite momentum Cooper pairing in three-dimensional topological insulator Josephson junctions

Nature Communications
Angela Q ChenNadya Mason

Abstract

Unconventional superconductivity arising from the interplay between strong spin-orbit coupling and magnetism is an intensive area of research. One form of unconventional superconductivity arises when Cooper pairs subjected to a magnetic exchange coupling acquire a finite momentum. Here, we report on a signature of finite momentum Cooper pairing in the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3. We apply in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields to proximity-coupled Bi2Se3 and find that the in-plane field creates a spatially oscillating superconducting order parameter in the junction as evidenced by the emergence of an anomalous Fraunhofer pattern. We describe how the anomalous Fraunhofer patterns evolve for different device parameters, and we use this to understand the microscopic origin of the oscillating order parameter. The agreement between the experimental data and simulations shows that the finite momentum pairing originates from the coexistence of the Zeeman effect and Aharonov-Bohm flux.

References

Sep 16, 2000·Physical Review Letters·K Yang, D F Agterberg
Nov 13, 2003·Physical Review Letters·A BianchiJ L Sarrao
Mar 16, 2007·Physical Review Letters·B-L YoungM J Graf
Aug 23, 2008·Science·M KenzelmannJ D Thompson
Feb 22, 2012·Nature Materials·M VeldhorstA Brinkman
Apr 12, 2013·Nature Communications·Sungjae ChoNadya Mason
Oct 8, 2014·Scientific Reports·Zhen ZhengGuangcan Guo

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Citations

Oct 26, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·George F R Ellis
Feb 15, 2019·Scientific Reports·Joachim SchönleWolfgang Wernsdorfer
Aug 23, 2019·Nature Communications·Chung Ting KeSrijit Goswami
Mar 4, 2020·Nature Communications·Cai-Zhen LiZhi-Min Liao
Jan 27, 2021·Nature Communications·Michał Papaj, Liang Fu
Jul 20, 2021·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Alexander BeachNadya Mason

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
AFM
atomic force microscopy

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