Unconventional Superconductivity on a Topological Insulator
Top Cited Papers
- 9 February 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 104 (6), 067001
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.104.067001
Abstract
We study proximity-induced superconductivity on the surface of a topological insulator (TI), focusing on unconventional pairing. We find that the excitation spectrum becomes gapless for any spin-triplet pairing, such that both subgap bound states and Andreev reflection is strongly suppressed. For spin-singlet pairing, the zero-energy surface state in the -wave case becomes a Majorana fermion, in contrast with the situation realized in the topologically trivial high- cuprates. We also study the influence of a Zeeman field on the surface states. Both the magnitude and direction of this field are shown to strongly influence the transport properties, in contrast with the case without TI. We predict an experimental signature of the Majorana states via conductance spectroscopy.
Keywords
Other Versions
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Topological field theory of time-reversal invariant insulatorsPhysical Review B, 2008
- The Quantum Spin Hall Effect: Theory and ExperimentJournal of the Physics Society Japan, 2008
- Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum WellsScience, 2007
- Topological insulators with inversion symmetryPhysical Review B, 2007
- Topological invariants of time-reversal-invariant band structuresPhysical Review B, 2007
- Topological Insulators in Three DimensionsPhysical Review Letters, 2007
- Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum WellsScience, 2006
- Quantum Spin Hall EffectPhysical Review Letters, 2006
- Quantum Spin Hall Effect in GraphenePhysical Review Letters, 2005
- Topological Order and the Quantum Spin Hall EffectPhysical Review Letters, 2005