Scanning tunneling microscopy studies of atomic impurities on the non-centrosymmetric superconductor BiPd

ORAL

Abstract

In the non-centrosymmetric superconductor BiPd, electrons are exposed to strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling in the bulk, which can allow for both spin-singlet and spin-triplet pairing channels. Introducing impurities to such a superconductor can generate various types of in-gap states. Bound states around non-magnetic impurities are expected in the presence of triplet pairing, and magnetic impurities give rise to Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states. Moreover, the combination of magnetism, spin-orbit coupling and superconductivity provides the essential ingredients for topological superconductivity. Here we use a dilution refrigerator scanning tunneling microscope to study the nature of the superconductivity in BiPd, whose bulk Tc is 3.8 K. We further explore the in-gap bound states of individual atomic impurities on its surface, and discuss the potential of this system as a new platform for Majorana fermions.

*This work was supported by grants from the Moore foundation, ONR, NSF-DMR, and NSF-MRSEC.

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Presenters

  • Hao Ding

    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University
    • Princeton University

Authors

  • Hao Ding

    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University
    • Princeton University

  • Mallika Randeria

    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University
    • Princeton University

  • Benjamin Feldman

    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University
    • Princeton University

  • Yuwen Hu

    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University

  • Satya Kushwaha

    • Department of Chemistry, Princeton University
    • Princeton Univ

  • Robert Cava

    • Department of Chemistry, Princeton University
    • Princeton
    • Princeton University
    • Chemistry, Princeton Univ
    • Princeton Univ

  • Ali Yazdani

    • Physics department, Princeton Univ
    • Joseph Henry Laboratories & Department of Physics, Princeton University
    • Physics Department, Princeton University
    • Physics, Princeton University
    • Princeton University