Interface-induced superconductivity in magnetic topological insulators

Yi, Hemian; Zhao, Yi-Fan; Chan, Ying-Ting; Cai, Jiaqi; Mei, Ruobing; Wu, Xianxin; Yan, Zi-Jie; Zhou, Ling-Jie; Zhang, Ruoxi; Wang, Zihao; Paolini, Stephen; Xiao, Run; Wang, Ke; Richardella, Anthony R.; Singleton, John; Stritzinger, Laurel Elaine Winter; Prokscha, Thomas; Salman, Zaher; Suter, Andreas; Balakrishnan, Purnima P.; Grutter, Alexander J.; Chan, Moses H. W.; Samarth, Nitin; Xu, Xiaodong; Wu, Weida; Liu, Chao-Xing; Chang, Cui-Zu

doi:10.1126/science.adk1270

Interface-induced superconductivity in magnetic topological insulators

Journal Article · Thu Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk1270· OSTI ID:2572936

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Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). National High Magnetic Field Lab. (MagLab)
Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)

The interface between two different materials can show unexpected quantum phenomena. Here, in this study, we used molecular beam epitaxy to synthesize heterostructures formed by stacking together two magnetic materials, a ferromagnetic topological insulator (TI) and an antiferromagnetic iron chalcogenide (FeTe). We observed emergent interface-induced superconductivity in these heterostructures and demonstrated the co-occurrence of superconductivity, ferromagnetism, and topological band structure in the magnetic TI layer—the three essential ingredients of chiral topological superconductivity (TSC). The unusual coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity is accompanied by a high upper critical magnetic field that exceeds the Pauli paramagnetic limit for conventional superconductors at low temperatures. These magnetic TI/FeTe heterostructures with robust superconductivity and atomically sharp interfaces provide an ideal wafer-scale platform for the exploration of chiral TSC and Majorana physics.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; SC0018153; SC0023113

OSTI ID:: 2572936

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--23-32034; 10.1126/science.adk1270; 1095-9203

Journal Information:: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6683 Vol. 383; ISSN 1095-9203; ISSN 0036-8075

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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