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arXiv · 1612.02239

Unconventional superconductivity induced in Nb films by adsorbed chiral molecules

H. Alpern·E. Katzir·S. Yochelis·N. Katz·Y. Paltiel·O. Millo
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Abstract

Motivated by recent observations of chiral-induced magnetization and spin-selective transport we studied the effect of chiral molecules on conventional BCS superconductors. By applying scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the singlet-pairing s-wave order parameter of Nb is significantly altered upon adsorption of chiral polyalanine alpha-helix molecules on its surface. The tunneling spectra exhibit zero-bias conductance peaks embedded inside gaps or gap-like features, suggesting the emergence of unconventional triplet-pairing components with either d-wave or p-wave symmetry, as corroborated by simulations. These results may open a way for realizing simple superconducting spintroinics devices.

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H. Alpern, E. Katzir, S. Yochelis, N. Katz, Y. Paltiel, O. Millo. 2016-12-07. Unconventional superconductivity induced in Nb films by adsorbed chiral molecules. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630%2F18%2F11%2F113048

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