No Arabic abstract
It is known that the parity of reflection amplitude can either be even or odd under the mirror operation. Up to now, all the parities of reflection amplitude in the one-mode energy region are even under the mirror operation. In this paper, we give an example of odd parity for Andreev reflection (AR) in a three-terminal graphene-supercondutor hybrid systems. We found that the parity is even for the Andreev retroreflection (ARR) and odd for specular Andreev reflection (SAR). We attribute this remarkable phenomenon to the distinct topology of the band structure of graphene and the specular Andreev reflection involving two energy bands with different parity symmetry. As a result of odd parity of SAR, the SAR probability of a four-terminal system with two superconducting leads (two reflection interfaces) can be zero even when the system is asymmetric due to the quantum interference of two ARs.
Andreev reflection in graphene is special since it can be of two types- retro or specular. Specular Andreev reflection (SAR) dominates when the position of the Fermi energy in graphene is comparable to or smaller than the superconducting gap. Bilayer graphene (BLG) is an ideal candidate to observe the crossover from retro to specular since the Fermi energy broadening near the Dirac point is much weaker compared to monolayer graphene. Recently, the observation of signatures of SAR in BLG have been reported experimentally by looking at the enhancement of conductance at finite bias near the Dirac point. However, the signatures were not very pronounced possibly due to the participation of normal quasi-particles at bias energies close to the superconducting gap. Here, we propose a scheme to observe the features of enhanced SAR even at zero bias at a normal metal (NM)-superconductor (SC) junction on BLG. Our scheme involves applying a Zeeman field to the NM side of the NM-SC junction on BLG (making the NM ferromagnetic), which energetically separates the Dirac points for up-spin and down-spin. We calculate the conductance as a function of chemical potential and bias within the superconducting gap and show that well-defined regions of specular- and retro-type Andreev reflection exist. We compare the results with and without superconductivity. We also investigate the possibility of the formation of a p-n junction at the interface between the NM and SC due to a work function mismatch.
Electrons incident from a normal metal onto a superconductor are reflected back as holes - a process called Andreev reflection. In a normal metal where the Fermi energy is much larger than a typical superconducting gap, the reflected hole retraces the path taken by the incident electron. In graphene with ultra low disorder, however, the Fermi energy can be tuned to be smaller than the superconducting gap. In this unusual limit, the holes are expected to be reflected specularly at the superconductor-graphene interface due to the onset of interband Andreev processes, where the effective mass of the reflected holes change sign. Here we present measurements of gate modulated Andreev reflections across the low disorder van der Waals interface formed between graphene and the superconducting NbSe2. We find that the conductance across the graphene-superconductor interface exhibits a characteristic suppression when the Fermi energy is tuned to values smaller than the superconducting gap, a hallmark for the transition between intraband retro- and interband specular- Andreev reflections.
We study Andreev reflection in graphene nanoribbon/superconductor hybrid junctions. By using a tight-binding approach and the scattering formalism we show that finite-size effects lead to notable differences with respect to the bulk graphene case. At subgap voltages, conservation of pseudoparity, a quantum number characterizing the ribbon states, yields either a suppression of Andreev reflection when the ribbon has an even number of sites in the transverse direction or perfect Andreev reflection when the ribbon has an odd number of sites. In the former case the suppression of Andreev reflection induces an insulating behavior even when the junction is biased; electron conduction can however be restored by applying a gate voltage.
Coherent charge transport along ballistic paths can be introduced into graphene by Andreev reflection, for which an electron reflects from a superconducting contact as a hole, while a Cooper pair is transmitted. We use a liquid-helium cooled scanning gate microscope (SGM) to image Andreev reflection in graphene in the magnetic focusing regime, where carriers move along cyclotron orbits between contacts. Images of flow are obtained by deflecting carrier paths and displaying the resulting change in conductance. When electrons enter the the superconductor, Andreev-reflected holes leave for the collecting contact. To test the results, we destroy Andreev reflection with a large current and by heating above the critical temperature. In both cases, the reflected carriers change from holes to electrons.
We propose a universal method to detect the specular Andreev reflection taking the simple two dimensional Weyl nodal-line semimetal-superconductor double-junction structure as an example. The quasiclassical quantization conditions are established for the energy levels of bound states formed in the middle semimetal along a closed path. The establishment of the conditions is completely based on the intrinsic character of the specularly reflected hole which has the same sign relation of its wave vector and group velocity with the incident electron. This brings about the periodic oscillation of conductance with the length of the middle semimetal, which is lack for the retro-Andreev reflected hole having the opposite sign relation with the incident electron. The positions of the conductance peaks and the oscillation period can be precisely predicted by the quantization conditions. Our detection method is irrespective of the details of the materials, which may promote the experimental detection of and further researches on the specular Andreev reflection as well as its applications in superconducting electronics.