Magnetization Signature of Topological Surface States in a Non-Symmorphic Superconductor

Superconductors with nontrivial band structure topology represent a class of materials with unconventional and potentially useful properties. Recent years have seen much success in creating artificial hybrid structures exhibiting the main characteristics of 2D topological superconductors. Yet, bulk...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kuang, Wenjun, Lopez-Polin Peña, Guillermo, Lee, Hyungjun, Guinea, Francisco, Whitehead, George, Timokhin, Ivan, Berdyugin, Alexey I., Kumar, Roshan Krishna, Yazyev, Oleg V., Walet, Niels, Principi, Alessandro, Geim, Andre K., Grigorieva, Irina V.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/706369
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/706369
https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.202103257
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:magnetization and magnetic susceptibility
non-symmorphic crystal symmetries
superconductivity
topological surface states
Materiales / Ciencia de los Materiales
Descripción
Sumario:Superconductors with nontrivial band structure topology represent a class of materials with unconventional and potentially useful properties. Recent years have seen much success in creating artificial hybrid structures exhibiting the main characteristics of 2D topological superconductors. Yet, bulk materials known to combine inherent superconductivity with nontrivial topology remain scarce, largely because distinguishing their central characteristic—the topological surface states—has proved challenging due to a dominant contribution from the superconducting bulk. In this work, a highly anomalous behavior of surface superconductivity in topologically nontrivial 3D superconductor In2Bi, where the surface states result from its nontrivial band structure, itself a consequence of the non-symmorphic crystal symmetry and strong spin–orbit coupling, is reported. In contrast to smoothly decreasing diamagnetic susceptibility above the bulk critical field, Hc2, as seen in conventional superconductors, a near-perfect, Meissner-like screening of low-frequency magnetic fields well above Hc2 is observed. The enhanced diamagnetism disappears at a new phase transition close to the critical field of surface superconductivity, Hc3. Using theoretical modeling, the anomalous screening is shown to be consistent with modification of surface superconductivity by the topological surface states. The possibility of detecting signatures of the surface states using macroscopic magnetization provides a new tool for the discovery and identification of topological superconductors