We report on first principles calculations of superconductivity in a single layer of lead on a silicon substrate including a full treatment of phononic and RPA screened coulomb interactions within the parameter free framework of Density Functional Theory for superconductors. A thorough investigation shows that several approximations that are commonly valid in bulk systems fail in this constrained 2D geometry. The calculated critical temperature turns out to be much higher than the experimental value of 1.86K. We argue that the only plausible explanation for the experimental Tc suppression is the onset of fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter.
Just like insulators can host topological Dirac states at their edges, superconductors can also exhibit topological phases characterized by Majorana edge states. Remarkable zero-energy states have been recently observed at the two ends of proximity induced superconducting wires, and were interpreted as localized Majorana end states in one-dimensional (1D) topological superconductor. By contrast, propagating Majorana states should exist at the 1D edges of two-dimensional (2D) topological superconductors. Here we report the direct observation of dispersive in-gap states surrounding topological superconducting domains made of a single atomic layer of Pb covering magnetic islands of Co/Si(111). We interpret the observed continuous dispersion across the superconducting gap in terms of a spatial topological transition accompanied by a chiral edge mode and residual gaped helical edge states. Our experimental approach enables the engineering and control of a large variety of novel quantum phases. This opens new horizons in the field of quantum materials and quantum electronics where the magnetization of the domains could be used as a control parameter for the manipulation of topological states.
We numerically investigate the Spin Density Functional theory for superconductors (SpinSCDFT) and the approximated exchange-correlation functional, derived and presented in the preceding paper I. As a test system we employ a free electron gas featuring an exchange-splitting, a phononic pairing field and a Coulomb repulsion. SpinSCDFT results are compared with Sarma, the Bardeen Cooper and Schrieffer theory and with an Eliashberg type of approach. We find that the spectrum of the superconducting Kohn-Sham SpinSCDFT system is not in agreement with the true quasi particle structure. Therefore, starting from the Dyson equation, we derive a scheme that allows to compute the many body excitations of the superconductor and represents the extension to superconductivity of the G0W0 method in band structure theory. This superconducting G0 W0 method vastly improves the predicted spectra.
We describe a method for calculating, within density functional theory, the electronic structure associated with typical defects which substitute for Cu in the CuO2 planes of high-Tc superconducting materials. The focus is primarily on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, the material on which most STM measurements of impurity resonances in the superconducting state have been performed. The magnitudes of the effective potentials found for Zn, Ni and vacancies on the in-plane Cu sites in this host material are remarkably consistent with phenomenological fits of potential scattering models to STM resonance energies. The effective potential ranges are quite short, of order 1 A with weak long range tails, in contrast to some current models of extended potentials which attempt to fit STM data. For the case of Zn and Cu vacancies, the effective potentials are strongly repulsive, and states on the impurity site near the Fermi level are simply removed. The local density of states (LDOS) just above the impurity is nevertheless found to be a maximum in the case of Zn and a local minimum in case of the vacancy, in agreement with experiment. The Zn and Cu vacancy patterns are explained as due to the long-range tails of the effective impurity potential at the sample surface. The case of Ni is richer due to the Ni atoms strong hybridization with states near the Fermi level; in particular, the short range part of the potential is attractive, and the LDOS is found to vary rapidly with distance from the surface and from the impurity site. We propose that the current controversy surrounding the observed STM patterns can be resolved by properly accounting for the effective impurity potentials and wave-functions near the cuprate surface. Other aspects of the impurity states for all three species are discussed.
We prepare single layer potassium-doped iron selenide (110) film by molecular beam expitaxy. Such a single layer film can be viewed as a two-dimensional system composed of weakly coupled two-leg iron ladders. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals that superconductivity is developed in this two-leg ladder system. The superconducting gap is similar to that of the multi-layer films. However, the Fermi surface topology given by first-principles calculation is remarkably different from that of the bulk materials. Our results suggest that superconducting pairing is very short-ranged or takes place rather locally in iron-chalcogenides. The superconductivity is most likely driven by electron-electron correlation effect and is insensitive to the change of Fermi surfaces.
The possibility that an unconventional depletion in the center of the charge density distribution of certain nuclei occurs due to a purely quantum mechanical effect has attracted theoretical and experimental attention in recent years. We report on ab initio self-consistent Greens function calculations of one of such candidates, $^{34}$Si, together with its Z+2 neighbour $^{36}$S. Binding energies, rms radii and density distributions of the two nuclei as well as low-lying spectroscopy of $^{35}$Si, $^{37}$S, $^{33}$Al and $^{35}$P are discussed. The interpretation of one-nucleon removal and addition spectra in terms of the evolution of the underlying shell structure is also provided. The study is repeated using several chiral effective field theory Hamiltonians as a way to test the robustness of the results with respect to input inter-nucleon interactions. The prediction regarding the (non-)existence of the bubble structure in $^{34}$Si varies significantly with the nuclear Hamiltonian used. However, demanding that the experimental charge density distribution and the root mean square radius of $^{36}$S are well reproduced, along with $^{34}$Si and $^{36}$S binding energies, only leaves the NNLO$_{text{sat}}$ Hamiltonian as a serious candidate to perform this prediction. In this context, a bubble structure, whose fingerprint should be visible in an electron scattering experiment of $^{34}$Si, is predicted. Furthermore, a clear correlation is established between the occurrence of the bubble structure and the weakening of the 1/2$^-$-3/2$^-$ splitting in the spectrum of $^{35}$Si as compared to $^{37}$S.
A. Linscheid
,A. Sanna
,E. K. U. Gross
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(2015)
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"Ab initio calculation of a Pb single layer on a Si substrate: two-dimensionality and superconductivity"
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Andreas Linscheid
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