Josephson detection of time-reversal symmetry broken superconductivity in SnTe nanowires

Trimble, C. J.; Wei, M. T.; Yuan, N. F. Q.; Kalantre, S. S.; Liu, P.; Han, H.-J.; Han, Myung-Geun; Zhu, Y.; Cha, J. J.; Fu, L.; Williams, J. R.

doi:10.1038/s41535-021-00359-w

Title: Josephson detection of time-reversal symmetry broken superconductivity in SnTe nanowires

Journal Article · Fri Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · npj Quantum Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-021-00359-w· OSTI ID:1809059

Trimble, C. J. ^[1];

^[1]; Yuan, N. F. Q. ^[2];

^[1]; Liu, P. ^[3];

^[3];

^[4]; Zhu, Y. ^[4]; Cha, J. J. ^[5]; Fu, L. ^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.
Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States); Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON (Canada)

A Josephson junction (JJ) couples the supercurrent flowing between two weakly linked superconductors to the phase difference between them via a current-phase relation (CPR). While a sinusoidal CPR is expected for conventional junctions with insulating weak links, devices made from some exotic materials may give rise to unconventional CPRs and unusual Josephson effects. In this work, we present such a case: we investigate the proximity-induced superconductivity in SnTe nanowires by incorporating them as weak links in JJs and observe a deviation from the standard CPR. We report on indications of an unexpected breaking of time-reversal symmetry in these devices, detailing the unconventional characteristics that reveal this behavior. These include an asymmetric critical current in the DC Josephson effect, a prominent second harmonic in the AC Josephson effect, and a magnetic diffraction pattern with a minimum in critical current at zero magnetic field. The analysis examines how multiband effects and the experimentally visualized ferroelectric domain walls give rise to this behavior, giving insight into the Josephson effect in materials that possess ferroelectricity and/or multiband superconductivity.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Science Foundation (NSF); US Army Research Office (ARO)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; SC0014476; 1743896; DMR-1743913; PHY-1430094; W911NF-18-2-0075

OSTI ID:: 1809059

Report Number(s):: BNL-221831-2021-JAAM; TRN: US2212947

Journal Information:: npj Quantum Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 1; ISSN 2397-4648

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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