Title
Odd-frequency superconducting pairing and subgap density of states at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator without magnetism
Date Issued
10 October 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Black-Schaffer A.
Uppsala University
Publisher(s)
American Physical Society
Abstract
We investigate the emergence and consequences of odd-frequency spin-triplet s-wave pairing in superconducting hybrid junctions at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator without any magnetism. More specifically, we consider several different normal-superconductor hybrid systems at the topological insulator edge, where spin-singlet s-wave superconducting pairing is proximity induced from an external conventional superconductor. We perform fully analytical calculations and show that odd-frequency mixed spin-triplet s-wave pairing arises due to the unique spin-momentum locking in the topological insulator edge state and the naturally nonconstant pairing potential profile in hybrid systems. Importantly, we establish a one-to-one correspondence between the local density of states (LDOS) at low energies and the odd-frequency spin-triplet pairing in NS, NSN, and SNS junctions along the topological insulator edge; at interfaces the enhancement in the LDOS can directly be attributed to the contribution of odd-frequency pairing. Furthermore, in SNS junctions we show that the emergence of the zero-energy LDOS peak at the superconducting phase φ=π is associated purely with odd-frequency pairing in the middle of the junction.
Volume
96
Issue
15
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Física de la materia condensada
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85037681775
Source
Physical Review B
ISSN of the container
24699950
Source funding
Göran Gustafssons Stiftelser
Sponsor(s)
We thank P. Burset, D. Kuzmanovski, and C. Triola for motivating and helpful discussions. This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), the Göran Gustafsson Foundation, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF), and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows program.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus