No Arabic abstract
Majarona fermions (MFs) were predicted more than seven decades ago but are yet to be identified [1]. Recently, much attention has been paid to search for MFs in condensed matter systems [2-10]. One of the seaching schemes is to create MF at the interface between an s-wave superconductor (SC) and a 3D topological insulator (TI) [11-13]. Experimentally, progresses have been achieved in the observations of a proximity-effect-induced supercurrent [14-16], a perfect Andreev reflection [17] and a conductance peak at the Fermi level [18]. However, further characterizations are still needed to clarify the nature of the SC-TI interface. In this Letter, we report on a strong proximity effect in Pb-Bi2Te3 hybrid structures, based on which Josephson junctions and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) can be constructed. Josephson devices of this type would provide a test-bed for exploring novel phenomena such as MFs in the future.
The magnetization in a superconductor induced due to the inverse proximity effect is investigated in hybrid bilayers containing a superconductor and a ferromagnetic insulator or a strongly spin-polarized ferromagnetic metal. The study is performed within a quasiclassical Green function framework, wherein Usadel equations are solved with boundary conditions appropriate for strongly spin-polarized ferromagnetic materials. A comparison with recent experimental data is presented. The singlet to triplet conversion of the superconducting correlations as a result of the proximity effect with a ferromagnet is studied.
Semiconductor-based Josephson junctions provide a platform for studying proximity effect due to the possibility of tuning junction properties by gate voltage and large-scale fabrication of complex Josephson circuits. Recently Josephson junctions using InAs weak link with epitaxial aluminum contact have improved the product of normal resistance and critical current, $I_cR_N$, in addition to fabrication process reliability. Here we study similar devices with epitaxial contact and find large supercurrent and substantial product of $I_cR_N$ in our junctions. However we find a striking difference when we compare these samples with higher mobility samples in terms of product of excess current and normal resistance, $I_{ex}R_N$. The excess current is negligible in lower mobility devices while it is substantial and independent of gate voltage and junction length in high mobility samples. This indicates that even though both sample types have epitaxial contacts only the high-mobility one has a high transparency interface. In the high mobility short junctions, we observe values of $I_cR_N/Delta sim 2.2$ and $I_{ex}R_N/Delta sim 1.5$ in semiconductor weak links.
We present measurements of the transport properties of hybrid structures consisting of a Kondo AuFe film and a superconducting Al film. The temperature dependence of the resistance indicates the existence of the superconducting proximity effect in the Kondo AuFe wires over the range of $sim0.5$ $mu$m. Electronic phase coherence in the Kondo AuFe wires has been confirmed by observing the Aharanov-Bohm effect in the magnetoresistance of the loop structure. The amplitude of the magnetoresistance oscillations shows a reentrant behavior with a maximum at $sim$ 870 mK, which results from an interplay between the Kondo effect and the superconducting proximity effect.
Conventional spin-singlet superconductivity that deeply penetrates into ferromagnets is typically killed by the exchange interaction, which destroys the spin-singlet pairs. Under certain circumstances, however, superconductivity survives this interaction by adopting the pairing behavior of spin triplets. The necessary conditions for the emergence of triplet pairs are well-understood, owing to significant developments in theoretical frameworks and experiments. The long-term challenges to inducing superconductivity in magnetic semiconductors, however, involve difficulties in observing the finite supercurrent, even though the generation of superconductivity in host materials has been well-established and extensively examined. Here, we show the first evidence of proximity-induced superconductivity in a ferromagnetic semiconductor (In, Fe)As. The supercurrent reached a distance scale of $sim 1~mu$m, which is comparable to the proximity range in two-dimensional electrons at surfaces of pure InAs. Given the long range of its proximity effects and its response to magnetic fields, we conclude that spin-triplet pairing is dominant in proximity superconductivity. Therefore, this progress in ferromagnetic semiconductors is a breakthrough in semiconductor physics involving unconventional superconducting pairing.
We study the superconducting proximity effect in a quantum wire with broken time-reversal (TR) symmetry connected to a conventional superconductor. We consider the situation of a strong TR-symmetry breaking, so that Cooper pairs entering the wire from the superconductor are immediately destroyed. Nevertheless, some traces of the proximity effect survive: for example, the local electronic density of states (LDOS) is influenced by the proximity to the superconductor, provided that localization effects are taken into account. With the help of the supersymmetric sigma model, we calculate the average LDOS in such a system. The LDOS in the wire is strongly modified close to the interface with the superconductor at energies near the Fermi level. The relevant distances from the interface are of the order of the localization length, and the size of the energy window around the Fermi level is of the order of the mean level spacing at the localization length. Remarkably, the sign of the effect is sensitive to the way the TR symmetry is broken: In the spin-symmetric case (orbital magnetic field), the LDOS is depleted near the Fermi energy, whereas for the broken spin symmetry (magnetic impurities), the LDOS at the Fermi energy is enhanced.