Anomalous Low-Temperature Enhancement of Supercurrent in Topological-Insulator Nanoribbon Josephson Junctions: Evidence for Low-Energy Andreev Bound States

Kayyalha, Morteza; Kargarian, Mehdi; Kazakov, Aleksandr; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; Galitski, Victor M.; Yakovenko, Victor M.; Rokhinson, Leonid P.; Chen, Yong P.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.122.047003

Title: Anomalous Low-Temperature Enhancement of Supercurrent in Topological-Insulator Nanoribbon Josephson Junctions: Evidence for Low-Energy Andreev Bound States

Journal Article · 01 February 2019 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.122.047003 · OSTI ID:1610594

Kayyalha, Morteza ^[1]; Kargarian, Mehdi ^[2]; Kazakov, Aleksandr ^[3]; Miotkowski, Ireneusz ^[3]; Galitski, Victor M. ^[2]; Yakovenko, Victor M. ^[2]; Rokhinson, Leonid P. ^[3]; Chen, Yong P. ^[4]

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan)

We report anomalous enhancement of the critical current at low temperatures in gate-tunable Josephson junctions made from topological insulator BiSbTeSe₂ nanoribbons with superconducting Nb electrodes. In contrast to conventional junctions, as a function of the decreasing temperature T, the increasing critical current I_c exhibits a sharp upturn at a temperature T_* around 20% of the junction critical temperature for several different samples and various gate voltages. The I_c vs T demonstrates a short junction behavior for T > T_*, but crosses over to a long junction behavior for T < T_* with an exponential T dependence I_c ∝ exp(–k_BT/δ), where k_B is the Boltzmann constant. The extracted characteristic energy scale δ is found to be an order of magnitude smaller than the induced superconducting gap of the junction. Furthermore, we attribute the long-junction behavior with such a small δ to low-energy Andreev bound states arising from winding of the electronic wave function around the circumference of the topological insulator nanoribbon.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Department of Defense Office of Naval Research; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001911; SC0008630

OSTI ID:: 1610594

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 122; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (66)

Concerning the theory of the Josephson effect in pureSNS junctions Svidzinsky, A. V.; Antsygina, T. N.; Bratus', E. N. Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00655245	journal	January 1973
Critical Current Scaling in Long Diffusive Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions Ke, Chung Ting; Borzenets, Ivan V.; Draelos, Anne W. Nano Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00738	journal	July 2016
Direct Measurement of Current-Phase Relations in Superconductor/Topological Insulator/Superconductor Junctions Sochnikov, Ilya; Bestwick, Andrew J.; Williams, James R. Nano Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl400997k	journal	June 2013
One-Dimensional Helical Transport in Topological Insulator Nanowire Interferometers Hong, Seung Sae; Zhang, Yi; Cha, Judy J. Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl500822g	journal	April 2014
Local and Nonlocal Fraunhofer-like Pattern from an Edge-Stepped Topological Surface Josephson Current Distribution Lee, Jae Hyeong; Lee, Gil-Ho; Park, Joonbum Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl501481b	journal	August 2014
4π-periodic Josephson supercurrent in HgTe-based topological Josephson junctions Wiedenmann, J.; Bocquillon, E.; Deacon, R. S. Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10303	journal	January 2016
Quantum transport of two-species Dirac fermions in dual-gated three-dimensional topological insulators Xu, Yang; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; Chen, Yong P. Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11434	journal	May 2016
Gate-tuned normal and superconducting transport at the surface of a topological insulator Sacépé, Benjamin; Oostinga, Jeroen B.; Li, Jian Nature Communications, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1586	journal	September 2011
Symmetry protected Josephson supercurrents in three-dimensional topological insulators Cho, Sungjae; Dellabetta, Brian; Yang, Alina Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2701	journal	April 2013
Evidence for an anomalous current–phase relation in topological insulator Josephson junctions Kurter, C.; Finck, A. D. K.; Hor, Y. S. Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8130	journal	June 2015
Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in a quasi-ballistic three-dimensional topological insulator nanowire Cho, Sungjae; Dellabetta, Brian; Zhong, Ruidan Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8634	journal	July 2015
Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator surface state Veldhorst, M.; Snelder, M.; Hoek, M. Nature Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3255	journal	February 2012
Magnetic field-induced helical mode and topological transitions in a topological insulator nanoribbon Jauregui, Luis A.; Pettes, Michael T.; Rokhinson, Leonid P. Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.293	journal	January 2016
Gapless Andreev bound states in the quantum spin Hall insulator HgTe Bocquillon, Erwann; Deacon, Russell S.; Wiedenmann, Jonas Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.159	journal	August 2016
Observation of topological surface state quantum Hall effect in an intrinsic three-dimensional topological insulator Xu, Yang; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; Liu, Chang Nature Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3140	journal	November 2014
Strong Superconducting Proximity Effect in Pb-Bi2Te3 Hybrid Structures Qu, Fanming; Yang, Fan; Shen, Jie Scientific Reports, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00339	journal	March 2012
Gate-tunable supercurrent and multiple Andreev reflections in a superconductor-topological insulator nanoribbon-superconductor hybrid device Jauregui, Luis A.; Kayyalha, Morteza; Kazakov, Aleksandr Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008746	journal	February 2018
Detecting perfect transmission in Josephson junctions on the surface of three dimensional topological insulators Ilan, Roni; Bardarson, Jens H.; Sim, H-S New Journal of Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/16/5/053007	journal	May 2014
Suppression of the Josephson current through a narrow, mesoscopic, semiconductor channel by a single impurity Bagwell, Philip F. Physical Review B, Vol. 46, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.12573	journal	November 1992
Josephson Current Flow in Pure Superconducting-Normal-Superconducting Junctions Bardeen, John; Johnson, Jared L. Physical Review B, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.5.72	journal	January 1972
Josephson critical current in a long mesoscopic S-N-S junction Dubos, P.; Courtois, H.; Pannetier, B. Physical Review B, Vol. 63, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.63.064502	journal	January 2001
Proximity dc squids in the long-junction limit Angers, L.; Chiodi, F.; Montambaux, G. Physical Review B, Vol. 77, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.77.165408	journal	April 2008
Superconducting proximity effect and possible evidence for Pearl vortices in a candidate topological insulator Zhang, Duming; Wang, Jian; DaSilva, Ashley M. Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.165120	journal	October 2011
Majorana fermions in a topological-insulator nanowire proximity-coupled to an s -wave superconductor Cook, A.; Franz, M. Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.201105	journal	November 2011
Proximity-effect-induced superconducting phase in the topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 Yang, Fan; Qu, Fanming; Shen, Jie Physical Review B, Vol. 86, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.86.134504	journal	October 2012
Current-phase relation for Josephson effect through helical metal Olund, Christopher T.; Zhao, Erhai Physical Review B, Vol. 86, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.86.214515	journal	December 2012
Helical Andreev bound states and superconducting Klein tunneling in topological insulator Josephson junctions Tkachov, G.; Hankiewicz, E. M. Physical Review B, Vol. 88, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.075401	journal	August 2013
Transport signatures of superconducting hybrids with mixed singlet and chiral triplet states Burset, Pablo; Keidel, Felix; Tanaka, Yukio Physical Review B, Vol. 90, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.085438	journal	August 2014
Signature of a topological phase transition in the Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator Stehno, M. P.; Orlyanchik, V.; Nugroho, C. D. Physical Review B, Vol. 93, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035307	journal	January 2016
Superconducting Proximity Effect and Majorana Fermions at the Surface of a Topological Insulator Fu, Liang; Kane, C. L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.096407	journal	March 2008
Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations in Disordered Topological Insulator Nanowires Bardarson, J. H.; Brouwer, P. W.; Moore, J. E. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.156803	journal	October 2010
Anomalous Aharonov-Bohm Conductance Oscillations from Topological Insulator Surface States Zhang, Yi; Vishwanath, Ashvin Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.206601	journal	November 2010
Evidence for Long-Lived Quasiparticles Trapped in Superconducting Point Contacts Zgirski, M.; Bretheau, L.; Le Masne, Q. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.257003	journal	June 2011
Unconventional Josephson Effect in Hybrid Superconductor-Topological Insulator Devices Williams, J. R.; Bestwick, A. J.; Gallagher, P. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.056803	journal	July 2012
Effect of Impurities on the Josephson Current through Helical Metals: Exploiting a Neutrino Paradigm Ghaemi, Pouyan; Nair, V. P. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.037001	journal	January 2016
Ballistic Graphene Josephson Junctions from the Short to the Long Junction Regimes Borzenets, I. V.; Amet, F.; Ke, C. T. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.237002	journal	December 2016
Magnetoelectric Andreev Effect due to Proximity-Induced Nonunitary Triplet Superconductivity in Helical Metals Tkachov, G. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.016802	journal	January 2017
Superconducting 2D System with Lifted Spin Degeneracy: Mixed Singlet-Triplet State Gor'kov, Lev P.; Rashba, Emmanuel I. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 87, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.037004	journal	July 2001
Measurement of the Current-Phase Relation of Superconducting Atomic Contacts Della Rocca, M. L.; Chauvin, M.; Huard, B. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.127005	journal	September 2007
Josephson Supercurrent through the Topological Surface States of Strained Bulk HgTe Oostinga, Jeroen B.; Maier, Luis; Schüffelgen, Peter Physical Review X, Vol. 3, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.3.021007	journal	May 2013
Phase Coherence and Andreev Reflection in Topological Insulator Devices Finck, A. D. K.; Kurter, C.; Hor, Y. S. Physical Review X, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.041022	journal	November 2014
The current-phase relation in Josephson junctions Golubov, A. A.; Kupriyanov, M. Yu.; Il’ichev, E. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 76, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.76.411	journal	April 2004
Colloquium: Topological insulators Hasan, M. Z.; Kane, C. L. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 4, p. 3045-3067 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.82.3045	journal	November 2010
Topological insulators and superconductors Qi, Xiao-Liang; Zhang, Shou-Cheng Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 83, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.83.1057	journal	October 2011
Time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductivity in epitaxial bismuth/nickel bilayers Gong, Xinxin; Kargarian, Mehdi; Stern, Alex Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1602579	journal	March 2017
Fractional ac Josephson effect in p- and d-wave superconductors Kwon, H. -J.; Sengupta, K.; Yakovenko, V. M. The European Physical Journal B - Condensed Matter, Vol. 37, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00066-4	journal	February 2003
Search for Majorana Fermions in Superconductors Beenakker, C. W. J. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-030212-184337	journal	April 2013
Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Hasan, M. Zahid; Moore, Joel E. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-062910-140432	journal	March 2011
Superconducting Proximity Effect and Majorana Fermions at the Surface of a Topological Insulator Fu, L.; Kane, C. L. Topologica, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3731/topologica.2.013	journal	January 2009
Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator Fu, Liang; Kane, C. L. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0707.1692	text	January 2007
Proximity DC squids in the long junction limit Angers, L.; Chiodi, F.; Cuevas, J. C. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0708.0205	text	January 2007
Measurement of the current-phase relation of superconducting atomic contacts Della Rocca, M. L.; Chauvin, M.; Huard, B. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0708.0515	text	January 2007
Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Hasan, M. Zahid; Moore, Joel E. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1011.5462	text	January 2010
Gate-tuned normal and superconducting transport at the surface of a topological insulator Sacepe, B.; Oostinga, J. B.; Li, J. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1101.2352	text	January 2011
Search for Majorana fermions in superconductors Beenakker, C. W. J. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1112.1950	text	January 2011
Current-phase relation for Josephson effect through helical metal Olund, Christopher T.; Zhao, Erhai arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1207.7288	text	January 2012
Symmetry Protected Josephson Supercurrents in Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Cho, Sungjae; Dellabetta, Brian; Yang, Alina arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1209.5830	text	January 2012
Helical Andreev bound states and superconducting Klein tunneling in topological insulator Josephson junctions Tkachov, G.; Hankiewicz, E. M. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1304.1893	text	January 2013
Josephson supercurrent through the topological surface states of strained bulk HgTe Oostinga, Jeroen B.; Maier, Luis; Schueffelgen, Peter arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1306.0154	text	January 2013
Signature of a topological phase transition in the Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator Orlyanchik, Vladimir; Stehno, Martin P.; Nugroho, Christopher D. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1309.0163	text	January 2013
Phase Coherence and Andreev Reflection in Topological Insulator Devices Finck, A. D. K.; Kurter, C.; Hor, Y. S. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1403.5588	text	January 2014
Quantum transport of two-species Dirac fermions in dual-gated three-dimensional topological insulators Xu, Yang; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; Chen, Yong P. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1511.04597	text	January 2015
Gapless Andreev bound states in the quantum spin Hall insulator HgTe Bocquillon, Erwann; Deacon, Russell S.; Wiedenmann, Jonas arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1601.08055	text	January 2016
Critical current scaling in long diffusive graphene-based Josephson junctions Ke, Chung-Ting; Borzenets, Ivan V.; Draelos, Anne W. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1602.03170	text	January 2016
Time-Reversal-Symmetry-Breaking Superconductivity in Epitaxial Bismuth/Nickel Bilayers Gong, Xinxin; Kargarian, Mehdi; Stern, Alex arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1609.08538	text	January 2016
Gate-tunable supercurrent and multiple Andreev reflections in a superconductor-topological insulator nanoribbon-superconductor hybrid device Jauregui, Luis A.; Kayyalha, Morteza; Kazakov, Aleksander arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1710.03362	text	January 2017

Cited By (10)

Topological insulator nanoribbon Josephson junctions: Evidence for size effects in transport properties Kunakova, Gunta; Surendran, Ananthu P.; Montemurro, Domenico Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 128, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0022126	journal	November 2020
Conditions for fully gapped topological superconductivity in topological insulator nanowires de Juan, Fernando; Bardarson, Jens H.; Ilan, Roni SciPost Physics, Vol. 6, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.21468/scipostphys.6.5.060	journal	May 2019
Classifying Induced Superconductivity in Atomically Thin Dirac-Cone Materials Condensed Matter, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat4030083	journal	September 2019
DC Self-Field Critical Current in Superconductor/Dirac-Cone Material/Superconductor Junctions Talantsev, Evgueni Nanomaterials, Vol. 9, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9111554	journal	November 2019
Highly skewed current–phase relation in superconductor–topological insulator–superconductor Josephson junctions Kayyalha, Morteza; Kazakov, Aleksandr; Miotkowski, Ireneusz npj Quantum Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-020-0209-5	journal	January 2020
Chiral current-phase relation of topological Josephson junctions: A signature of the 4 π -periodic Josephson effect Tkachov, G. Physical Review B, Vol. 100, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.100.035403	journal	July 2019
Perfect transmission and Aharanov-Bohm oscillations in topological insulator nanowires with nonuniform cross section Xypakis, Emmanouil; Rhim, Jun-Won; Bardarson, Jens H. Physical Review B, Vol. 101, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.045401	journal	January 2020
Classifying Induced Superconductivity in Atomically Thin Dirac-Cone Materials Condensed Matter, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3390/condmat4030083	journal	September 2019
DC Self-Field Critical Current in Superconductor/Dirac-Cone Material/Superconductor Junctions Talantsev, Evgueni Nanomaterials, Vol. 9, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9111554	journal	November 2019
Perfect transmission and Aharanov-Bohm oscillations in topological insulator nanowires with nonuniform cross section Xypakis, Emmanouil; Rhim, Jun-Won; Bardarson, Jens H. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1712.06478	text	January 2017

Similar Records

Gate-tunable supercurrent and multiple Andreev reflections in a superconductor-topological insulator nanoribbon-superconductor hybrid device

Journal Article · 2018 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:1540137

Jauregui, Luis A.; Kayyalha, Morteza; Kazakov, Aleksandr; +3 more

Highly skewed current–phase relation in superconductor–topological insulator–superconductor Josephson junctions

Journal Article · 2020 · npj Quantum Materials · OSTI ID:1801844

Kayyalha, Morteza; Kazakov, Aleksandr; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; +3 more

Topological supercurrents interaction and fluctuations in the multiterminal Josephson effect

Journal Article · 2019 · Physical Review. B · OSTI ID:1612770

Xie, Hong-Yi; Levchenko, Alex

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Andreev reflection
Coherence length
Josephson effect
Physics
Proximity effect
Spin-orbit coupling
Spin-singlet pairing
Spin-triplet pairing
Superconducting gap
Superconducting order parameter
Surface states
Topological materials
Topological phases of matter

Title: Anomalous Low-Temperature Enhancement of Supercurrent in Topological-Insulator Nanoribbon Josephson Junctions: Evidence for Low-Energy Andreev Bound States

Citation Formats

References (66)

Cited By (10)

Similar Records

Related Subjects