Magnetic-Related States and Order Parameter Induced in a Conventional Superconductor by Nonmagnetic Chiral Molecules

Abstract

Hybrid ferromagnetic/superconducting systems are well known for hosting intriguing phenomena such as emergent triplet superconductivity at their interfaces and the appearance of in-gap, spin polarized Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states bound to magnetic impurities on a superconducting surface. In this work we demonstrate that similar phenomena can be induced on a surface of a conventional superconductor by chemisorbing non-magnetic chiral molecules. Conductance spectra measured on NbSe2 flakes over which chiral alpha helix polyalanine molecules were adsorbed, exhibit, in some cases, in-gap states nearly symmetrically positioned around zero bias that shift with magnetic field, akin to YSR states, as corroborated by theoretical simulations. Other samples show evidence for a collective phenomenon of hybridized YSR-like states giving rise to unconventional, possibly triplet superconductivity, manifested in the conductance spectra by the appearance of a zero bias conductance that diminishes, but does not split, with magnetic field. The transition between these two scenarios appears to be governed by the density of adsorbed molecules.

arXiv commentAccepted to Nano Letters. 17 pages and 5 figures. supporting information provided

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• Vibrational Origin of Exchange Splitting and Chirality Induced Spin Selectivity
• Charge Redistribution and Spin Polarization Driven by Correlation Induced Electron Exchange in Chiral Molecules
• Interplay of Structural Chirality, Electron Spin and Topological Orbital in Chiral Molecular Spin Valves
• Charge and Spin Dynamics and Enantioselectivity in Chiral Molecules
• Geometric spin-orbit coupling and chirality-induced spin selectivity
• Interplay between friction and spin-orbit coupling as a source of spin polarization
• The Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity Effect -- What It Is, What It Is Not, And Why It Matters
• Interface-Induced Conservation of Momentum Leads to Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity
• Tailoring Superconductivity in Large-Area Single-Layer NbSe2 via Self-Assembled Molecular Adlayers
• Unconventional Meissner screening induced by chiral molecules in a conventional superconductor
• Effects of Rashba-spin-orbit coupling on superconducting boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond films: evidence of interfacial triplet superconductivity
• Topologically nontrivial and trivial zero modes in chiral molecules
• Should it really be that hard to model the chirality induced spin selectivity effect?
• Emergent magnetism as a cooperative effect of interactions and reservoir
• Signatures of a Spin-Active Interface and Locally Enhanced Zeeman field in a Superconductor-Chiral Material Heterostructure
• Electronic and Spin States at Edges of Finite $p$-orbital Helical Atomic Chain
• Quantum transport in the presence of a chiral molecular potential
• Single-enantiomer spin polarisers in superconducting junctions
• Topological superconductivity in helical crystals