Search for large topological gaps in atomic spin chains on proximitized superconducting heavy metal layers
arXiv:2301.05622 · doi:10.1038/s42005-023-01196-y
Abstract
One-dimensional systems comprising s-wave superconductivity with meticulously tuned magnetism and spin-orbit coupling can realize topologically gapped superconductors hosting Majorana edge modes whose stability is determined by the gap's size. The ongoing quest for larger topological gaps evolved into a material science issue. However, for atomic spin chains on superconductor surfaces, the effect of the substrate's spin-orbit coupling on the system's topological gap size is largely unexplored. Here, we introduce an atomic layer of the heavy metal Au on Nb(110) which combines strong spin-orbit coupling and a large superconducting gap with a high crystallographic quality enabling the assembly of defect-free Fe chains using a scanning tunneling microscope tip. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal ferromagnetic coupling and ungapped YSR bands in the chain despite of the heavy substrate. By artificially imposing a spin spiral state our calculations indicate a minigap opening and zero-energy edge state formation. The presented methodology paves the way towards a material screening of heavy metal layers on elemental superconductors for ideal systems hosting Majorana edge modes protected by large topological gaps.
References in corpus (43)
- Topological Insulators
- Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
- Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
- Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
- Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor Heterostructures
- Observation of Majorana Fermions in Ferromagnetic Atomic Chains on a Superconductor
- Emergent Phenomena Induced by Spin-Orbit Coupling at Surfaces and Interfaces
- Giant Spin-splitting in the Bi/Ag(111) Surface Alloy
- Majorana fermions in chains of magnetic atoms on a superconductor
- Topological Superconductivity and Majorana Fermions in RKKY Systems
- Topological superconducting phase in helical Shiba chains
- Graphene for spintronics: giant Rashba splitting due to hybridization with Au
- End states and subgap structure in proximity-coupled chains of magnetic adatoms
- Spin-selective Peierls transition in interacting one-dimensional conductors with spin-orbit interaction
- Hund's rule-driven Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at 3d-5d interfaces
- Majorana fermions in superconducting nanowires without spin-orbit coupling
- Topological Superconductivity induced by Ferromagnetic Metal Chains
- Signature of a pair of Majorana zero modes in superconducting gold surface states
- Orbital Picture of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov Multiplets
- Fully relativistic calculation of magnetic properties of Fe, Co and Ni adclusters on Ag(100)
- Evidence of topological Shiba bands in artificial spin chains on superconductors
- Mapping the orbital structure of impurity bound states in a superconductor
- Controlled length-dependent interaction of Majorana modes in Yu-Shiba-Rusinov chains
- The local spectrum of a superconductor as a probe of interactions between magnetic impurities
- Wave-function hybridization in Yu-Shiba-Rusinov dimers
- Topological Superconductivity and Majorana Fermions in Metallic Surface-States
- Probing magnetic interactions between Cr adatoms on the -BiPd superconductor
- Quantum Interference between Impurities: Creating Novel Many-Body States in s-wave Superconductors
- Spin-orbit coupling induced splitting of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in antiferromagnetic dimers
- Quantum spins and hybridization in artificially-constructed chains of magnetic adatoms on a superconductor
- Controlling in-gap end states by linking nonmagnetic atoms and artificially-constructed spin chains on superconductors
- Tuning interactions between spins in a superconductor
- On the preparation and electronic properties of clean superconducting Nb(110) surfaces
- Anomalous density of states in a metallic film in proximity with a superconductor
- Non-Majorana modes in diluted spin chains proximitized to a superconductor
- Long range and highly tunable interaction between local spins coupled to a superconducting condensate
- Magnetism of a Co monolayer on Pt(111) capped by overlayers of elements: a spin-model study
- Magnetic adatom induced skyrmion-like spin texture in surface electron waves
- Atomic Manipulation of In-gap States on the -BiPd Superconductor
- Spin-correlations and magnetic structure in an Fe monolayer on 5d transition metal surfaces
- Relativistic first principles theory of Yu--Shiba--Rusinov states applied to an Mn adatom and Mn dimers on Nb(110)
- Two-band superconductivity of bulk and surface states in Ag thin films on Nb
- Prediction of superconducting transition temperatures of heterostructures based on first principles