Tunneling dynamics between superconducting bound states at the atomic limit

ORAL

Abstract

A Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) state is a pair of protected in-gap levels generated by magnetic atoms on a superconductor. We are able to introduce YSR state of desired properties to the apex of a superconducting vanadium tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with a base temperature of 10mK, and then use this novel tip to tunnel into intrinsic YSR states on superconducting vanadium sample, thus studying the transport between YSR states, the Shiba-Shiba tunneling. As a realization of the fundamental tunneling process between two single levels, Shiba-Shiba tunneling features unusual sharp current peaks in the I(V) spectrum. By varying the conductance and tracing the evolution of the intensity of such peaks, we demonstrate a transition from sequential tunneling to emergent coherent tunneling from which we can extract the lifetime of YSR states directly. This paves the road for characterizing and manipulating coupled superconducting bound states, such as Andreev levels and Majorana bound states using STM.

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Presenters

  • Haonan Huang

    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

Authors

  • Haonan Huang

    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

  • Ciprian Padurariu

    • Institut für Komplexe Quantensysteme and IQST, Universität Ulm

  • Jacob Senkpiel

    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

  • Robert Drost

    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

  • Alfredo Levy Yeyati

    • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
    • Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

  • Juan Carlos Cuevas

    • Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    • Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    • Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

  • Björn Kubala

    • Institut für Komplexe Quantensysteme and IQST, Universität Ulm

  • Joachim Ankerhold

    • Institut für Komplexe Quantensysteme and IQST, Universität Ulm

  • Klaus Kern

    • Nanoscale Science, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research
    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

  • Christian Ast

    • Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
    • Nanoscale Science, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research
    • Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research