Revealing the Origin of Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Fe-Chalcogenide Superconductor FeTe1-xSex

Farhang, Camron; Zaki, Nader; Wang, Jingyuan; Gu, Genda; Johnson, Peter D.; Xia, Jing

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.130.046702

Revealing the Origin of Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Fe-Chalcogenide Superconductor FeTe 1-x Se x

Journal Article · Tue Jan 24 23:00:00 EST 2023 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.130.046702· OSTI ID:1960163

^[1]; Zaki, Nader ^[2]; ^[1]; Gu, Genda ^[2]; ^[2]; Xia, Jing ^[1]

University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.

We report that recently evidence has emerged in the topological superconductor Fe-chalcogenide FeTe_1-xSe_x for time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB), the nature of which has strong implications on the Majorana zero modes (MZM) discovered in this system. It remains unclear however whether the TRSB resides in the topological surface state (TSS) or in the bulk, and whether it is due to an unconventional TRSB superconducting order parameter or an intertwined order. Here by performing in superconducting FeTe_1-xSe_x crystals both surface-magneto-optic-Kerr effect (SMOKE) measurements using a Sagnac interferometer and bulk magnetic susceptibility measurements, we pinpoint the TRSB to the TSS, where we also detect a Dirac gap. Further, we observe surface TRSB in non-superconducting FeTe_1-xSe_x of nominally identical composition, indicating that TRSB arises from an intertwined surface ferromagnetic (FM) order. The observed surface FM bears striking similarities to the two-dimensional (2D) FM found in 2D van der Waals crystals, and is highly sensitive to the exact chemical composition, thereby providing a means for optimizing the conditions for Majorana particles that are useful for robust quantum computing.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 1960163

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1916509

Report Number(s):: BNL-223900-2023-JAAM

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 130; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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