DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Onset of a Two-Dimensional Superconducting Phase in a Topological-Insulator–Normal-Metal Bi 1 - x Sb x / Pt Junction Fabricated by Ion-Beam Techniques

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Inducing superconductivity in a topological insulator can lead to novel quantum effects. However, experimental approaches to turn a topological insulator into a superconductor are limited. Here, we report on superconductivity in topological insulator Bi0.91Sb0.09 induced via focused ion-beam deposition of a Pt thin film. The superconducting phase exhibits a Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, demonstrative of its two-dimensional character. From the in-plane upper critical field measurements, we estimate the superconducting thickness to be ~17 nm for a 5.5-μm-thick sample. Our results provide evidence that the interface superconductivity could originate from the surface states of Bi0.91Sb0.09.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; 15-LW-018; 16-SI-004; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1465266
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1460484; OSTI ID: 1506337
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-746859; PRLTAO; 931609; TRN: US1902459
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 121, Issue 3; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (56)

Intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in superconducting δ -doped SrTiO 3 heterostructures journal August 2012
Detection of doubled shot noise in short normal-metal/ superconductor junctions journal May 2000
Topological insulators and superconductors journal October 2011
Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator surface state journal February 2012
Upper Limit for the Critical Field in Hard Superconductors journal September 1962
Superconductivity with two-fold symmetry in topological superconductor Sr x Bi2Se3 journal January 2017
New Phenomenon in Semimetals and Semiconductors journal July 1965
Magnetothermal Oscillations and Spin Splitting in Bismuth and Antimony journal March 1967
Superconducting 2D System with Lifted Spin Degeneracy: Mixed Singlet-Triplet State journal July 2001
Crossover from Josephson Effect to Single Interface Andreev Reflection in Asymmetric Superconductor/Nanowire Junctions journal August 2014
Quantum Oscillations and Hall Anomaly of Surface States in the Topological Insulator Bi2Te3 journal July 2010
Superconductivity by Sr intercalation in the layered topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 journal July 2015
Topological odd-parity superconductors journal June 2010
A topological Dirac insulator in a quantum spin Hall phase journal April 2008
Unconventional superconductivity at mesoscopic point contacts on the 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 journal November 2015
Universal self-field critical current for thin-film superconductors journal August 2015
Observation of superconductivity induced by a point contact on 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 crystals journal November 2015
Tunneling Between Superconductors journal June 1963
Resistive transition in superconducting films journal September 1979
Superconductivity in Cu x Bi 2 Se 3 and its Implications for Pairing in the Undoped Topological Insulator journal February 2010
Observation of Huge Surface Hole Mobility in the Topological Insulator Bi 0.91 Sb 0.09 (111) journal October 2013
Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Proximity-Coupled Superconducting Arrays journal November 1981
Two-dimensional superconductivity at the interface of a Bi2Te3/FeTe heterostructure journal June 2014
Two-Dimensional Superconducting State of Monolayer Pb Films Grown on GaAs(110) in a Strong Parallel Magnetic Field journal August 2013
Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov State in Heavy Fermion Superconductors journal May 2007
A note on the Maximum Critical Field of High‐Field Superconductors journal September 1962
Robust odd-parity superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Nb x Bi 2 Se 3 journal September 2017
Inhomogeneous Stripe Phase Revisited for Surface Superconductivity journal November 2002
Superconducting resistive transition in coupled arrays of 4 Å carbon nanotubes journal May 2010
Enhancement of the Superconducting Transition Temperature of La 2 − x Sr x CuO 4 Bilayers: Role of Pairing and Phase Stiffness journal July 2008
Topological insulators with inversion symmetry journal July 2007
Z2 Topological Order and the Quantum Spin Hall Effect journal September 2005
Ising pairing in superconducting NbSe2 atomic layers journal November 2015
Topological Superconductivity in Cu x Bi 2 Se 3 journal November 2011
Colloquium: Topological insulators journal November 2010
Momentum-space imaging of Cooper pairing in a half-Dirac-gas topological superconductor journal November 2014
Nature of the quantum metal in a two-dimensional crystalline superconductor journal December 2015
Rotational Symmetry Breaking in a Trigonal Superconductor Nb-doped Bi 2 Se 3 journal January 2017
Superconductors coupled with a two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs/AlGaAs and InAs/AlGaSb heterostructures journal March 1994
Superconductivity with Topological Surface State in Sr x Bi 2 Se 3 journal August 2015
Unconventional Josephson Effect in Hybrid Superconductor-Topological Insulator Devices journal July 2012
On the origin of critical temperature enhancement in atomically thin superconductors journal April 2017
Classification of topological insulators and superconductors in three spatial dimensions journal November 2008
Superconductivity in Bi observed with point contacts journal August 1986
Topological Superconductivity in a Planar Josephson Junction journal May 2017
Ordering, metastability and phase transitions in two-dimensional systems journal April 1973
Tunneling Between Superconductors journal July 1963
Superconducting transitions of intrinsic arrays of weakly coupled one-dimensional superconducting chains: the case of the extreme quasi-1D superconductor Tl 2 Mo 6 Se 6 journal October 2011
Possibility of Vortex-Antivortex Pair Dissociation in Two-Dimensional Superconductors journal April 1979
Superconducting Proximity Effect and Majorana Fermions at the Surface of a Topological Insulator journal March 2008
Critical-Exponent Measurements of a Two-Dimensional Superconductor journal May 1983
Surface band structure of Bi 1 − x Sb x ( 111 ) journal April 2015
Superconducting Interfaces Between Insulating Oxides journal August 2007
Temperature dependence ofH c2 and? 1 in strong coupling superconductors journal March 1974
Interplay between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in crystalline nanowires journal March 2010
Approaching zero-temperature metallic states in mesoscopic superconductor–normal–superconductor arrays journal December 2011

Cited By (2)