Proximity effects at the interface of a superconductor and a topological insulator in NbN - Bi_2Se_3 thin film bilayers

Abstract

In a search for a simple proximity system of a topological insulator and a superconductor for studying the role of surface versus bulk effects by gating, we report here on a first step toward this goal, namely the choice of such a system and its characterization. We chose to work with thin film bilayers of grainy 5 nm thick NbN films as the superconductor, overlayed with 20 nm thick topological layer of $\rm Bi_2Se_3$ and compare the transport results to those obtained on a 5 nm thick reference NbN film on the same wafer. Bilayers with ex-situ and in-situ prepared $\rm NbN-Bi_2Se_3$ interfaces were studied and two kinds of proximity effects were found. At high temperatures just below the superconducting transition, all bilayers showed a conventional proximity effect where the topological $\rm Bi_2Se_3$ suppresses the onset or mid-transition $T_c$ of the superconducting NbN films by about 1 K. At low temperatures, a cross-over of the resistance versus temperature curves of the bilayer and reference NbN film occurs, where the bilayers show enhancement of $T_c(R=0)$, $I_c$ (the supercurrent) and the Andreev conductance, as compared to the bare NbN films. This indicates that superconductivity is induced in the $\rm Bi_2Se_3$ layer at the interface region in between the NbN grains. Thus an inverse proximity effect in the topological material is demonstrated.