Anomalous charge transport in mesoscopic triplet superconductor junctions

Charge transport properties of a diffusive normal metal /triplet superconductor (DN/TS) junction are studied based on the Keldysh-Nambu quasiclassical Green's function formalism. % Contrary to the unconventional singlet superconductor junction case, the mid gap Andreev resonant state (MARS) at the interface of the TS is shown to enhance the proximity effect in the DN. % The total resistance of the DN/TS junction is drastically reduced and is completely independent of the resistance of the DN in the extreme case. % Such anomalous transport accompanies a giant zero-bias peak in the conductance spectra and a zero-energy peak of the local density of states in the DN region. % These striking features manifest the presence of novel proximity effect peculiar to triplet superconductor junctions.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure

Axial Current driven by Magnetization Dynamics in Weyl Semimetals

We theoretically study the axial current $\bm{j}_5$ (defined as the difference between the charge current with opposite chirality) in doped Weyl semimetal using a Green's function technique. We show that the axial current is controlled by the magnetization dynamics in a magnetic insulator attached to a Weyl semimetal. We find that the induced axial current can be detected by using ferromagnetic resonance or the inverse spin Hall effect and can be converted into charge current with no accompanying energy loss. These properties make Weyl semimetal advantageous for application to low-consumption electronics with new functionality.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Influences of broken time-reversal symmetry on the d.c. Josephson effects in d-wave superconductors

In order to examine the influences of the spatial dependence of the pair potential, the d.c. Josephson current in d-wave superconductors is calculated using self-consistently determined pair potentials. The results show that the suppression of the d-wave pair potential near the insulator does not have serious effect on the properties of the Josephson current. On the other hand, drastic changes are obtained due to the inducement of a subdominant s-wave component, which spontaneously breaks time reversal symmetry. Especially, a rapid enhancement of the Josephson current at low temperature predicted in previous formulas is strongly suppressed.Comment: Latex 11 pages, 3 eps figure

Theory of Tunneling Effect in 1D AIII-class Topological Insulator (Nanowire) Proximity Coupled with a Superconductor

We study the tunneling effect in an AIII-class insulator proximity coupled with a spin-singlet $s$-wave superconductor, in which three phases are characterized by the integer topological invariant $\mathcal{N}$. By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation explicitly, we analytically obtain a normal reflection coefficient $R_{\sigma\sigma'}$ and an Andreev reflection coefficient $A_{\sigma\sigma'}$, and derive a charge conductance formula,where $\sigma(\sigma')$ is the spin index of a reflected (injected) wave. The resulting conductance indicates a wide variety of line shapes: (i)gap structure without coherence peaks for $\mathcal{N}=0$, (ii)quantized zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) with height $2e^{2}/h$ for $\mathcal{N}=1$, and (iii)ZBCP spitting for $\mathcal{N}=2$. At zero bias voltage $eV=0$, $\sum_{\sigma\sigma'} R_{\sigma\sigma'} = \sum_{\sigma\sigma'} A_{\sigma\sigma'}$ is satisfied and the spin direction of an injected electron is rotated at approximately $90^\circ$ for the $\mathcal{N}=1$ state. Meanwhile, $A_{\sigma\sigma'}=0$ is satisfied for the $\mathcal{N}=2$ state, and the spin rotation angle can become $180^\circ$

Spin-Dependent Conductance in a Junction with Dresselhaus Spin-Orbit Coupling

We studied spin-dependent conductance in a normal metal (NM)/NM junction with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (DSOC) and magnetization. As a reference, we also studied the spin-dependent conductance in such a junction with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC). Using a standard scattering method, we calculated the gate-voltage dependence of the spin-dependent conductances in DSOC and RSOC. In addition, we calculated the gate-voltage dependence of the conductances in a ferromagnetic metal (FM)/NM junction with spin-orbit coupling and magnetization, which we call ferromagnetic spin-orbit metal (FSOM). From these results, we discuss the relation between these conductance in the presence of DSOC and that in the presence of RSOC. We found that conductance in DSOC is the same as that in RSOC for the NM/FSOM junction. In addition, we found that in the FM/FSOM junction, the conductance in DSOC is the same as that in RSOC only when the FM magnetization is along the out-of-plane direction.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figuers (4/1/2018

Tunneling conductance in two-dimensional junctions between a normal metal and a ferromagnetic Rashba metal

We have studied charge transport in ferromagnetic Rashba metal (FRM), where both Rashba type spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and exchange coupling coexist. It has nontrivial metallic states, i.e., normal Rashba metal (NRM), anomalous Rashba metal (ARM), and Rashba ring metal (RRM), and they are manipulated by tuning the Fermi level with an applied gate voltage. We theoretically studied tunneling conductance (G) in a normal metal / FRM junction by changing the Fermi level via an applied gate voltage (Vg) on the FRM. We found a wide variation in the Vg dependence of G, which depends on the metallic states. In NRM, the Vg dependence of G is the same as that in a conventional two-dimensional system. However, in ARM, the Vg dependence of G is similar to that in a conventional one (two)-dimensional system for a large (small) RSOC. Furthermore, in RRM, which is generated by a large RSOC, the Vg dependence of the $G$ is similar to that in the one-dimensional system. In addition, these anomalous properties stem from the spin-momentum locking of RSOC rather than the density of states in ARM and RRM because of the large RSOC and exchange coupling.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures Replace(2018/01/12) changing the title (2017/11/30

Theory of the d.c. Josephson effect in Pb / Sr2RuO4 / Pb

To clarify the origin of anomalous behaviors in Pb/Sr2RuO4/Pb junctions in terms of the pairing symmetry, a theory of the d.c. Josephson current in s-wave superconductor / p-wave superconductor / s-wave superconductor junctions is developed. Calculated results on the temperature dependence of the critical Josephson current exhibit non-monotonous behaviors when the thickness of the p-wave superconductor is comparable to the coherence length. The consistency between present results with recent experimental measurement supports the possibility of a unitary p-wave pairing state in Sr2RuO4.Comment: 6 pages, 4 eps figure

Odd-frequency pairing and proximity effect in Kitaev chain systems including topological critical point

In this paper, we investigate the relation between odd-frequency pairing and proximity effect in non-uniform Kitaev chain systems with a particular interest in the topological critical point. First, we correlate the odd-frequency pairing and Majorana fermion in a semi-infinite Kitaev chain, where we find that the spatial dependence of the odd-frequency pair amplitude coincides with that of the local density of states at low frequencies. Second, we demonstrate that, contrary to the standard view, the odd-frequency pair amplitude spreads into the bulk of a semi-infinite Kitaev chain at the topological critical point. Finally, we show that odd-frequency Cooper pairs cause the proximity effect in a normal metal/diffusive normal metal/ Kitaev chain junction even at the topological critical point. Our results hold relevance to the investigation of odd-frequency pairing and topological superconductivity in more complicated systems that involve Rashba nanowire with magnetic fields.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

Odd-Frequency Pairs in Chiral Symmetric Systems: Spectral Bulk-Boundary Correspondence and Topological Criticality

Odd-frequency Cooper pairs with chiral symmetry emerging at the edges of topological superconductors are a useful physical quantity for characterizing the topological properties of these materials. In this work, we show that the odd-frequency Cooper pair amplitudes can be expressed by a winding number extended to a nonzero frequency, which is called a `spectral bulk-boundary correspondence,' and can be evaluated from the spectral features of the bulk. The odd-frequency Cooper pair amplitudes are classified into two categories: the amplitudes in the first category have the singular functional form $\sim 1/z$ (where $z$ is a complex frequency) that reflects the presence of a topological surface Andreev bound state, whereas the amplitudes in the second category have the regular form $\sim z$ and are regarded as non-topological. We discuss the topological phase transition by using the coefficient in the latter category, which undergoes a power-law divergence at the topological phase transition point and is used to indicate the distance to the critical point. These concepts are established based on several concrete models, including a Rashba nanowire system that is promising for realizing Majorana fermions.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Two-dimensional p-wave superconducting states with magnetic moments on a conventional s-wave superconductor

Unconventional superconductivity induced by the magnetic moments in a conventional spin-singlet s-wave superconductor is theoretically studied. By choosing the spin directions of these moments, one can design spinless pairing states appearing within the s-wave superconducting energy gap. It is found that the helix spins produce px + py-wave state while the skyrmion crystal configuration px + ipy-wave like state. Nodes in the energy gap and the zero energy flat band of Majorana edge states exist in the former one, while the chiral Majorana channels along edges of the sample and the zero energy Majorana bound state at the core of the vortex appear in the latter case.Comment: 9 pages including Supplemental Material, 9 figure