Power-law Temperature Dependence of the Penetration Depth in a Topological Superconductor due to Surface States

Tsz Chun Wu; Hridis K. Pal; Pavan Hosur; Matthew S. Foster

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.124.067001

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arXiv · 1905.07415

Power-law Temperature Dependence of the Penetration Depth in a Topological Superconductor due to Surface States

Tsz Chun Wu·Hridis K. Pal·Pavan Hosur·Matthew S. Foster

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Abstract

We study the temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth in a 3D topological superconductor (TSC), incorporating the paramagnetic current due to the surface states. A TSC is predicted to host a gapless 2D surface Majorana fluid. In addition to the bulk-dominated London response, we identify a $T^3$ power-law-in-temperature contribution from the surface, valid in the low-temperature limit. Our system is fully gapped in the bulk, and should be compared to bulk nodal superconductivity, which also exhibits power-law behavior. Power-law temperature dependence of the penetration depth can be one indicator of topological superconductivity.

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Tsz Chun Wu, Hridis K. Pal, Pavan Hosur, Matthew S. Foster. 2020-02-17. Power-law Temperature Dependence of the Penetration Depth in a Topological Superconductor due to Surface States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.124.067001

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