Novel self-epitaxy for inducing superconductivity in the topological insulator (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3

Abstract

Using the superconducting proximity effect for engineering a topological superconducting state in a topological insulator (TI) is a promising route to realize Majorana fermions. However, epitaxial growth of a superconductor on the TI surface to achieve a good proximity effect has been a challenge. We discovered that simply depositing Pd on thin films of the TI material (Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$)${}_2$Te${}_3$ leads to an epitaxial self-formation of PdTe${}_2$ superconductor having the superconducting transition temperature of ~1 K. This self-formed superconductor proximitizes the TI, which is confirmed by the appearance of a supercurrent in Josephson-junction devices made on (Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$)${}_2$Te${}_3$. This self-epitaxy phenomenon can be conveniently used for fabricating TI-based superconducting nanodevices to address the superconducting proximity effect in TIs.

arXiv comment9 pages total, 7 pages of main text with 4 figures, 2 pages of Supplemental Material with 2 figures

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Cited by in corpus (23)

• Opportunities in topological insulator devices
• Discovery of segmented Fermi surface induced by Cooper pair momentum
• Superconductivity in type-II Weyl-semimetal WTe2 induced by a normal metal contact
• Proximity-induced superconductivity in (Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$)${}_2$Te${}_3$ topological-insulator nanowires
• Majorana zero modes induced by superconducting phase bias
• Metallization and proximity superconductivity in topological insulator nanowires
• A quantum dot in germanium proximitized by a superconductor
• Transparent Josephson Junctions in Higher-Order Topological Insulator WTe2 via Pd Diffusion
• Josephson junctions of Weyl semimetal ${\text{WTe}}_2$ induced by spontaneous nucleation of $\text{PdTe}$ superconductor
• Fractional AC Josephson effect in a topological insulator proximitized by a self-formed superconductor
• Atomic diffusion-induced polarization and superconductivity in topological insulator-based heterostructures
• Revealing intrinsic superconductivity of the Nb/BiSbTe${}_2$Se interface
• Spontaneous generation of vortices by a nonuniform Zeeman field in a two-dimensional Rashba coupled superconductor
• Fraunhofer pattern in the presence of Majorana zero modes
• Observation of the surface hybridization gap in the electrical transport properties of the ultrathin topological insulator (Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$)${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Influence of disorder on antidot vortex Majorana states in 3D topological insulators
• Microwave response in a topological superconducting quantum interference device
• Superconductivity at Pd/Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ Interfaces Due to Self-Formed PdBiSe Interlayers
• Gate-Tunable Ambipolar Josephson Current in a Topological Insulator
• Integration of topological insulator Josephson junctions in superconducting qubit circuits
• High and Magnetic-field-dependent Surface Carriers Mobility in 3D Topological Insulators without Bulk States
• In-plane magnetic field-driven symmetry breaking in topological insulator-based three-terminal junctions
• Interaction of magnons with plasmons in a system of antiferromagnetic insulators coupled to a superconductor microwave cavity through the interfacial exchange interaction