Atomic Diffusion-Induced Polarization and Superconductivity in Topological Insulator-Based Heterostructures
Atomic Diffusion-Induced Polarization and Superconductivity in Topological Insulator-Based Heterostructures
The proximity effect at a highly transparent interface of an s-wave superconductor (S) and a topological insulator (TI) provides a promising platform to create Majorana zero modes in artificially designed heterostructures. However, structural and chemical issues pertinent to such interfaces have bee...
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Personal Name(s): | Wei, Xiankui (Corresponding author) |
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Jalil, Abdur Rehman / Rüssmann, Philipp (Corresponding author) / Ando, Yoichi / Grützmacher, Detlev / Blügel, Stefan / Mayer, Joachim | |
Contributing Institute: |
JARA-FIT; JARA-FIT JARA - HPC; JARA-HPC Halbleiter-Nanoelektronik; PGI-9 Materialwissenschaft u. Werkstofftechnik; ER-C-2 Quanten-Theorie der Materialien; PGI-1 Quanten-Theorie der Materialien; IAS-1 |
Published in: | ACS nano, 18 (2024) 1, S. 571-580 |
Imprint: |
Washington, DC
Soc.
2024
|
DOI: |
10.1021/acsnano.3c08601 |
DOI: |
10.34734/FZJ-2024-00084 |
Document Type: |
Journal Article |
Research Program: |
EXC 2004: Materie und Licht für Quanteninformation (ML4Q) Topological Matter |
Link: |
OpenAccess |
Publikationsportal JuSER |
Please use the identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.34734/FZJ-2024-00084 in citations.
The proximity effect at a highly transparent interface of an s-wave superconductor (S) and a topological insulator (TI) provides a promising platform to create Majorana zero modes in artificially designed heterostructures. However, structural and chemical issues pertinent to such interfaces have been poorly explored so far. Here, we report the discovery of Pd diffusion-induced polarization at interfaces between superconductive Pd1+x(Bi0.4Te0.6)2 (xPBT, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) and Pd-intercalated Bi2Te3 by using atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Our quantitative image analysis reveals that nanoscale lattice strain and QL polarity synergistically suppress and promote Pd diffusion at the normal and parallel interfaces, formed between Te–Pd–Bi triple layers (TLs) and Te–Bi–Te–Bi–Te quintuple layers (QLs), respectively. Further, our first-principles calculations unveil that the superconductivity of the xPBT phase and topological nature of the Pd-intercalated Bi2Te3 phase are robust against the broken inversion symmetry. These findings point out the necessity of considering the coexistence of electric polarization with superconductivity and topology in such S–TI systems. |