Superconducting proximity effect in three-dimensional topological insulators in the presence of a magnetic field

Abstract

The proximity-induced pair potential in a topological insulator–superconductor hybrid features an interesting superposition of a conventional spin-singlet component from the superconductor and a spin-triplet one induced by the surface state of the topological insulator. This singlet-triplet superposition can be altered by the presence of a magnetic field. We study the interplay between topological order and superconducting correlations performing a symmetry analysis of the induced pair potential, using Green functions techniques to theoretically describe ballistic junctions between superconductors and topological insulators under magnetic fields. We relate a change in the conductance from a gapped profile into one with a zero-energy peak with the transition into a topologically nontrivial regime where the odd-frequency triplet pairing becomes the dominant component in the pair potential. The nontrivial regime, which provides a signature of odd-frequency triplet superconductivity, is reached for an out-of-plane effective magnetization with strength comparable to the chemical potential of the superconductor or for an in-plane one, parallel to the normal-superconductor interface, with strength of the order of the superconducting gap. Strikingly, in the latter case, a misalignment with the interface yields an asymmetry with the energy in the conductance unless the total contribution of the topological surface state is considered.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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