617 research outputs found
Evidence for an anomalous current phase relation in topological insulator Josephson junctions
Josephson junctions with topological insulator weak links can host low energy
Andreev bound states giving rise to a current phase relation that deviates from
sinusoidal behaviour. Of particular interest are zero energy Majorana bound
states that form at a phase difference of . Here we report on
interferometry studies of Josephson junctions and superconducting quantum
interference devices (SQUIDs) incorporating topological insulator weak links.
We find that the nodes in single junction diffraction patterns and SQUID
oscillations are lifted and independent of chemical potential. At high
temperatures, the SQUID oscillations revert to conventional behaviour, ruling
out asymmetry. The node lifting of the SQUID oscillations is consistent with
low energy Andreev bound states exhibiting a nonsinusoidal current phase
relation, coexisting with states possessing a conventional sinusoidal current
phase relation. However, the finite nodal currents in the single junction
diffraction pattern suggest an anomalous contribution to the supercurrent
possibly carried by Majorana bound states, although we also consider the
possibility of inhomogeneity.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Phase Coherence and Andreev Reflection in Topological Insulator Devices
Topological insulators (TIs) have attracted immense interest because they
host helical surface states. Protected by time-reversal symmetry, they are
robust to non-magnetic disorder. When superconductivity is induced in these
helical states, they are predicted to emulate p-wave pairing symmetry, with
Majorana states bound to vortices. Majorana bound states possess non-Abelian
exchange statistics which can be probed through interferometry. Here, we take a
significant step towards Majorana interferometry by observing pronounced
Fabry-Perot oscillations in a TI sandwiched between a superconducting and
normal lead. For energies below the superconducting gap, we observe a doubling
in the frequency of the oscillations, arising from the additional phase
accumulated from Andreev reflection. When a magnetic field is applied
perpendicular to the TI surface, a number of very sharp and gate-tunable
conductance peaks appear at or near zero energy, which has consequences for
interpreting spectroscopic probes of Majorana fermions. Our results demonstrate
that TIs are a promising platform for exploring phase-coherent transport in a
solid-state system.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Crystal Structure and Chemistry of Topological Insulators
Topological surface states, a new kind of electronic state of matter, have
recently been observed on the cleaved surfaces of crystals of a handful of
small band gap semiconductors. The underlying chemical factors that enable
these states are crystal symmetry, the presence of strong spin orbit coupling,
and an inversion of the energies of the bulk electronic states that normally
contribute to the valence and conduction bands. The goals of this review are to
briefly introduce the physics of topological insulators to a chemical audience
and to describe the chemistry, defect chemistry, and crystal structures of the
compounds in this emergent field.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Materials Chemistry, 47 double spaced pages,
9 figure
Dynamical Gate Tunable Supercurrents in Topological Josephson Junctions
Josephson junctions made of closely-spaced conventional superconductors on
the surface of 3D topological insulators have been proposed to host Andreev
bound states (ABSs) which can include Majorana fermions. Here, we present an
extensive study of the supercurrent carried by low energy ABSs in
Nb/BiSe/Nb Josephson junctions in various SQUIDs as we modulate the
carrier density in the BiSe barriers through electrostatic top gates.
As previously reported, we find a precipitous drop in the Josephson current at
a critical value of the voltage applied to the top gate. This drop has been
attributed to a transition where the topologically trivial 2DEG at the surface
is nearly depleted, causing a shift in the spatial location and change in
nature of the helical surface states. We present measurements that support this
picture by revealing qualitative changes in the temperature and magnetic field
dependence of the critical current across this transition. In particular, we
observe pronounced fluctuations in the critical current near total depletion of
the 2DEG that demonstrate the dynamical nature of the supercurrent transport
through topological low energy ABSs.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Robust Fabry-Perot interference in dual-gated BiSe devices
We study Fabry-Perot interference in hybrid devices, each consisting of a
mesoscopic superconducting disk deposited on the surface of a three-dimensional
topological insulator. Such structures are hypothesized to contain protected
zero modes known as Majorana fermions bound to vortices. The interference
manifests as periodic conductance oscillations of magnitude .
These oscillations show no strong dependence on bulk carrier density or sample
thickness, suggesting that they result from phase coherent transport in surface
states. However, the Fabry-Perot interference can be tuned by both top and back
gates, implying strong electrostatic coupling between the top and bottom
surfaces of topological insulator.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted by Appl. Phys. Let
Tuning the Charge Density Wave and Superconductivity in CuxTaS2
We report the characterization of layered, 2H-type CuxTaS2, for x between 0
and 0.12. The charge density wave (CDW), at 70 K for TaS2, is destabilized with
Cu doping. The sub-1K superconducting transition in undoped 2H-TaS2 jumps
quickly to 2.5 K at low x, increases to 4.5 K at the optimal composition
Cu0.04TaS2, and then decreases at higher x. The electronic contribution to the
specific heat, first increasing and then decreasing as a function of Cu
content, is 12 mJ mol-1 K-2 at Cu0.04TaS2. Electron diffraction studies show
that the CDW remains present at the optimal superconducting composition, but
with both a changed q vector and decreased coherence length. We present an
electronic phase diagram for the system.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures. To be published in Physical Review
High pressure transport properties of the topological insulator Bi2Se3
We report x-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity, and magnetoresistance
measurements on Bi2Se3 under high pressure and low temperature conditions.
Pressure induces profound changes in both the room temperature value of the
electrical resistivity as well as the temperature dependence of the
resistivity. Initially, pressure drives Bi2Se3 towards increasingly insulating
behavior and then, at higher pressures, the sample appears to enter a fully
metallic state coincident with a change in the crystal structure. Within the
low pressure phase, Bi2Se3 exhibits an unusual field dependence of the
transverse magnetoresistance that is positive at low fields and becomes
negative at higher fields. Our results demonstrate that pressures below 8 GPa
provide a non-chemical means to controllably reduce the bulk conductivity of
Bi2Se3
Measurement of Cosmic-ray Muons and Muon-induced Neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory
We have measured the muon flux and production rate of muon-induced neutrons
at a depth of 611 m water equivalent. Our apparatus comprises three layers of
crossed plastic scintillator hodoscopes for tracking the incident cosmic-ray
muons and 760 L of gadolinium-doped liquid scintillator for producing and
detecting neutrons. The vertical muon intensity was measured to be cmssr. The yield of
muon-induced neutrons in the liquid scintillator was determined to be
neutrons/(gcm). A fit to the recently measured neutron
yields at different depths gave a mean muon energy dependence of for liquid-scintillator targets.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, 3 table
Spin-Rotation Symmetry Breaking in the Superconducting State of CuxBi2Se3
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is an important concept for understanding
physics ranging from the elementary particles to states of matter. For example,
the superconducting state breaks global gauge symmetry, and unconventional
superconductors can break additional symmetries. In particular, spin rotational
symmetry is expected to be broken in spin-triplet superconductors. However,
experimental evidence for such symmetry breaking has not been conclusively
obtained so far in any candidate compounds. Here, by 77Se nuclear magnetic
resonance measurements, we show that spin rotation symmetry is spontaneously
broken in the hexagonal plane of the electron-doped topological insulator
Cu0.3Bi2Se3 below the superconducting transition temperature Tc=3.4 K. Our
results not only establish spin-triplet superconductivity in this compound, but
may also serve to lay a foundation for the research of topological
superconductivity
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