Proximity-induced Superconductivity in Scalable Topological Insulator/Graphene/Gallium heterostructures

ORAL

Abstract

Proximity-induced superconductivity in topological insulator (TI)/superconductor (SC) heterostructures is a potential platform to host Majorana zero modes. In this work, we synthesize and study high-quality, large area (Bi,Sb)2Te3/graphene(Gr)/2L-Ga heterostructures combining confinement heteroepitaxy (Briggs et al.  Nat. Mater. 19, 637–643 (2020)) and molecular beam epitaxy. This synthetic approach results in atomically sharp interfaces and the growth of the TI film preserves the superconductivity of our two-layer Ga film extremely well with a transition temperature of Tc ~ 4 K. We fabricated lithography-free van der Waals tunnel junctions using thin hexagonal Boron Nitride as tunnel barrier and performed transport tunneling spectroscopy on TI/Gr/Ga heterostructures. The tunneling spectra exhibit temperature and magnetic field dependences associated with two superconducting gaps. One gap agrees with the SC gap of the 2L-Ga. We attribute the second gap to proximity-induced superconductivity in the Dirac surface state of the TI film. In 5QL TI/Gr/Ga films, the induced gap is approximately 0.2 meV, which is about 40% of the SC gap in 2L-Ga. In addition, we observe discrete tunneling conductance jump corresponding to the addition of a single vortex when a magnetic field is applied. Our results open up new avenues for developing epitaxial two-dimensional systems for Majorana braiding and topological quantum computation.

*MRSEC, NSF

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Presenters

  • Cequn Li

    • Pennsylvania State University

Authors

  • Cequn Li

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Yifan Zhao

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University

  • Alexander Vera

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Shalini Kumari

    • The Pennsylvania State University
    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Timothy Bowen

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University

  • Hemian Yi

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Omri Lesser

    • Weizmann Institute of Science

  • Kenji Watanabe

    • National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • NIMS
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science
    • Advanced, Materials Laboratory, NIMS
    • 3 National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science; 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute of Materials Science
    • Advanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science (Japan)
    • National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science
    • National Institute of Material Sciences, Japan
    • NIMS, Tsukuba
    • 2National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1-1, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
    • National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science Japan
    • NIMS, Japan
    • nims
    • National Institute for Materials Science, Research Center for Functional Materials, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science Tsukuba
    • National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki
    • National Institute for Materials Science of Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • NIMS - National Institute for Material Science, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
    • National Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba
    • National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
    • National Institute for Materials Science, Research Center for Functional Materials
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute of Material Science
    • Kyoto Univ
    • National Institute for Materials Science,1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    • National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • NIMS
    • Kyoto Univ
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
    • 3 National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science; 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute of Materials Science
    • Advanced Materials Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science (Japan)
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • Kyoto University
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for MaterialsScience, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science
    • National Institute of Material Sciences, Japan
    • NIMS, Tsukuba
    • 2National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1-1, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
    • National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
    • NIMS, Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
    • NIMS. Japan
    • International Center for Material Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • International Center for Material Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science
    • National Institute for Materials Science Tsukuba
    • National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki
    • National Institute for Materials Science of Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan
    • NIMS - National Institute for Material Science, Japan
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
    • National Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba
    • National Institute for Materials Science, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • National Institute of Material Science
    • National Institute for Materials Science,1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan

  • Yuval Oreg

    • Weizmann Institute of Science

  • Joshua A Robinson

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Cui-Zu Chang

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Jun Zhu

    • Pennsylvania State University