Andreev reflection at the altermagnet-superconductor interface

Journal Article · 27 August 2023 · Physical Review. B

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.108.l060508 · OSTI ID:2424065

Papaj, Michał  ^[1]

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1. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Altermagnets are a new class of magnetic materials, which exhibit large spin splitting, but due to the combined spin and real space group symmetry protection maintain zero net macroscopic magnetization. Such a characteristic may prove them to be superior in applications in superconducting heterostructures and thus here we investigate the Andreev reflection at the altermagnet/superconductor interface. We compare and contrast altermagnets to other magnetic materials, revealing qualitative differences in the behavior of altermagnetic junction depending on the Fermi surface orientation. We study the resonant states arising in setups with strong tunneling barriers and show that sensitivity to nonmagnetic disorder is also dependent on the orientation. In conclusion, our results provide a building block for altermagnetic superconducting heterostructures such as Josephson π junctions with superior properties.

• Research Organization: National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers (United States). The Quantum Science Center (QSC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 2424065
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 108; ISSN 2469-9950
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English