Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userNematic topological superconducting phase in Nb-doped Bi2Se3
106
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
A nematic topological superconductor has an order parameter symmetry, which spontaneously breaks the crystalline symmetry in its superconducting state. This state can be observed, for example, by thermodynamic or upper critical field experiments in which a magnetic field is rotated with respect to the crystalline axes. The corresponding physical quantity then directly reflects the symmetry of the order parameter. We present a study on the superconducting upper critical field of the Nb-doped topological insulator NbxBi2Se3 for various magnetic field orientations parallel and perpendicular to the basal plane of the Bi2Se3 layers. The data were obtained by two complementary experimental techniques, magnetoresistance and DC magnetization, on three different single crystalline samples of the same batch. Both methods and all samples show with perfect agreement that the in-plane upper critical fields clearly demonstrate a two-fold symmetry that breaks the three-fold crystal symmetry. The two-fold symmetry is also found in the absolute value of the magnetization of the initial zero-field-cooled branch of the hysteresis loop and in the value of the thermodynamic contribution above the irreversibility field, but also in the irreversible properties such as the value of the characteristic irreversibility field and in the width of the hysteresis loop. This provides strong experimental evidence that Nb-doped Bi2Se3 is a nematic topological superconductor similar to the Cu- and Sr-doped Bi2Se3.
rate research
Read More
Nematic superconductivity is a novel class of superconductivity characterized by spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the superconducting gap amplitude and/or Cooper-pair spins with respect to the underlying lattice symmetry. Doped Bi2Se3 superconductors, such as CuxBi2Se3, SrxBi2Se3, and NbxBi2Se3, are considered as candidates for nematic superconductors, in addition to the anticipated topological superconductivity. Recently, various bulk probes, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, specific heat, magnetotransport, magnetic torque, and magnetization, have consistently revealed two-fold symmetric behavior in their in-plane magnetic-field-direction dependence, although the underlying crystal lattice possesses three-fold rotational symmetry. More recently, nematic superconductivity is directly visualized using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. In this short review, we summarize the current researches on the nematic behavior in superconducting doped Bi2Se3 systems, and discuss issues and perspectives.
Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, the atomic and low energy electronic structure of the Sr-doped superconducting topological insulators (SrxBi2Se3) was studied. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that most of the Sr atoms are not in the van der Waals gap. After Sr doping, the Fermi level was found to move further upwards when compared with the parent compound Bi2Se3, which is consistent with the low carrier density in this system. The topological surface state was clearly observed, and the position of the Dirac point was determined in all doped samples. The surface state is well separated from the bulk conduction bands in the momentum space. The persistence of separated topological surface state combined with small Fermi energy makes this superconducting material a very promising candidate for the time reversal invariant topological superconductor
Simultaneous low-temperature electrical resistivity and Hall effect measurements were performed on single-crystalline Bi2Se3 under applied pressures up to 50 GPa. As a function of pressure, superconductivity is observed to onset above 11 GPa with a transition temperature Tc and upper critical field Hc2 that both increase with pressure up to 30 GPa, where they reach maximum values of 7 K and 4 T, respectively. Upon further pressure increase, Tc remains anomalously constant up to the highest achieved pressure. Conversely, the carrier concentration increases continuously with pressure, including a tenfold increase over the pressure range where Tc remains constant. Together with a quasi-linear temperature dependence of Hc2 that exceeds the orbital and Pauli limits, the anomalously stagnant pressure dependence of Tc points to an unconventional pressure-induced pairing state in Bi2Se3 that is unique among the superconducting topological insulators.
Topological insulators embody a new state of matter characterized entirely by the topological invariants of the bulk electronic structure rather than any form of spontaneously broken symmetry. Unlike the 2D quantum Hall or quantum spin-Hall-like systems, the three dimensional (3D) topological insulators can host magnetism and superconductivity which has generated widespread research activity in condensed-matter and materials-physics communities. Thus there is an explosion of interest in understanding the rich interplay between topological and the broken-symmetry states (such as superconductivity), greatly spurred by proposals that superconductivity introduced into certain band structures will host exotic quasiparticles which are of interest in quantum information science. The observations of superconductivity in doped Bi_2Se_3 (Cu$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$) and doped Bi_2Te_3 (Pd$_x$-Bi$_2$Te$_3$ T$_c$ $sim$ 5K) have raised many intriguing questions about the spin-orbit physics of these ternary complexes while any rigorous theory of superconductivity remains elusive. Here we present key measurements of electron dynamics in systematically tunable normal state of Cu$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$ (x=0 to 12%) gaining insights into its spin-orbit behavior and the topological nature of the surface where superconductivity takes place at low temperatures. Our data reveal that superconductivity occurs (in sample compositions) with electrons in a bulk relativistic kinematic regime and we identify that an unconventional doping mechanism causes the topological surface character of the undoped compound to be preserved at the Fermi level of the superconducting compound, where Cooper pairing occurs at low temperatures. These experimental observations provide important clues for developing a theory of topological-superconductivity in 3D topological insulators.
Recently, the search for Majorana fermions (MFs) has become one of the most important and exciting issues in condensed matter physics since such an exotic quasiparticle is expected to potentially give rise to unprecedented quantum phenomena whose functional properties will be used to develop future quantum technology. Theoretically, the MFs may reside in various types of topological superconductor materials that is characterized by the topologically protected gapless surface state which are essentially an Andreev bound state. Superconducting doped topological insulators and topological crystalline insulators are promising candidates to harbor the MFs. In this review, we discuss recent progress and understanding on the research of MFs based on time-reversal-invariant superconducting topological materials to deepen our understanding and have a better outlook on both the search for and realization of MFs in these systems. We also discuss some advantages of these bulk systems to realize MFs including remarkable superconducting robustness against nonmagnetic impurities.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
