arXiv subjects

Jens Wiebe

Publications and source records attributed to Jens Wiebe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

In-plane ferromagnetism-driven topological nodal-point superconductivity with tilted Weyl cones

The potential application of topological superconductivity in quantum transport and quantum information has fueled an intense investigation of hybrid materials with emergent electronic properties, including magnet-superconductor heterostructures. Here, we report evidence of a topological nodal-point superconducting phase in a one-atom-thick in-plane ferromagnet in direct proximity to a conventional $s$-wave superconductor. Low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy data reveal the presence of a double-peak low-energy feature in the local density of states of the hybrid system, which is rationalized via model calculations to be an emergent topological nodal-point superconducting phase with tilted Weyl cones. Our results further establish the combination of in-plane ferromagnetism and conventional superconductivity as a route to design two-dimensional topological quantum phases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Robustness of Majorana modes to potential disorder in Fe chains on a superconducting Rashba alloy

Majorana modes offer great potential for fault-tolerant quantum computation due to their topological protection. However, for superconductor-semiconductor nanowire hybrids, intrinsic disorder makes the unambiguous detection of Majorana modes difficult. Here, we construct 1D spin chains from individual Fe atoms on the Rashba surface alloy BiAg2/Ag(111) with proximity-induced superconductivity from a Nb(110) substrate. While the Fe chains exhibit perfect crystalline order, we observe nano-scale potential disorder of the BiAg2/Ag(111)/Nb(110) heterostructure by scanning tunneling microscopy. However, this does not prevent the emergence of zero-energy modes at both ends of the Fe chains, in agreement with tight-binding calculations showing that they are only found in the topologically non-trivial regime of the phase diagram. These Majorana modes are indeed robust against potential disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Effect of substrate spin-orbit coupling on the topological gap size of Shiba chains

Realizing Majorana bound states in chains of magnetic impurities on $s$-wave superconducting substrates relies on a fine tuning of the energy and hybridization of the single magnetic impurity bound states and of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC). While recent experiments investigate the influence of the former two parameters, the effect of SOC remained experimentally largely unexplored. Here, we present a scanning tunneling spectroscopy study of close-packed Mn chains along the [001]-direction on Ta(110) which has almost identical atomic and surface electronic structure compared to the previously studied Nb(110) system, but a three times larger SOC. The dominant Shiba band has a very similar dispersion, but its minigap, taken relative to $\varDelta$, is increased by a factor of 1.9 with respect to the Nb case, which can be ascribed to the stronger SOC.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Coexistence of topologically trivial and non-trivial Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bands in magnetic atomic chains on a superconductor

Majorana zero modes (MZMs) have been proposed as a promising basis for Majorana qubits offering great potential for topological quantum computation. Such modes may form at the ends of a magnetic atomic chain on a superconductor. Typically only a single MZM may be present at one end of the chain, but symmetry may protect multiple MZMs at the same end. Here, we study the topological properties of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) bands of excitations in Mn chains constructed on a Nb(110) and on a Ta(110) substrate using first-principles calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy experiments. We demonstrate that even and odd YSR states with respect to mirroring on the symmetry plane containing the chain have different dispersions, and both of them may give rise to MZMs separately. Although the spin-orbit coupling leads to a hybridization between the bands, multiple MZMs may still exist due to the mirror symmetry. These findings highlight the influence of symmetries on interpreting the spectroscopic signatures of candidates for MZMs.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Magnet-superconductor hybrid quantum systems: a materials platform for topological superconductivity

Magnet-superconductor hybrid (MSH) systems have recently emerged as one of the most significant developments in condensed matter physics. This has generated, in the last decade, a steadily rising interest in the understanding of their unique properties. They have been proposed as one of the most promising platforms for the establishment of topological superconductivity, which holds high potential for application in future quantum information technologies. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) plays a crucial role in the race to unveil the fundamental origin of the unique properties of MSH systems, with the aim to discover new hybrid quantum materials capable of hosting topologically non-trivial unconventional superconducting phases. In particular, the combination of STM studies with tight-binding model calculations have represented, so far, the most successful approach to unveil and explain the emergent electronic properties of MSHs. The scope of this review is to offer a broad perspective on the field of MSHs from an atomic-level investigation point-of-view. The focus is on discussing the link between the magnetic ground state hosted by the hybrid system and the corresponding emergent superconducting phase. This is done for MSHs with both one-dimensional (atomic chains) and two-dimensional (atomic lattices and thin films) magnetic systems proximitized to conventional s-wave superconductors. We present a systematic categorization of the experimentally investigated systems with respect to defined experimentally accessible criteria to verify or falsify the presence of topological superconductivity and Majorana edge modes. Given the vast number of publications on the topic, we limit ourselves to discuss works which are most relevant to the search for topological superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Non-local detection of coherent Yu-Shiba-Rusinov quantum projections

Probing spatially confined quantum states from afar - a long-sought goal to minimize external interference - has been proposed to be achievable in condensed matter systems via coherent projection. The latter can be tailored by sculpturing the eigenstates of the electron sea that surrounds the quantum state using atom-by-atom built cages, so-called quantum corrals. However, assuring the coherent nature of the projection, and manipulating its quantum composition, has remained an elusive goal. Here, we experimentally realize the coherent projection of a magnetic impurity-induced, Yu-Shiba-Rusinov quantum state using the eigenmodes of corrals on the surface of a superconductor, which enables us to manipulate the particle-hole composition of the projected state by tuning corral eigenmodes through the Fermi energy. Our results demonstrate a controlled non-local method for the detection of magnet superconductor hybrid quantum states.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

High-resolution spectroscopy of proximity superconductivity in finite-size quantized surface states

Adding superconducting (SC) electron pairing via the proximity effect to pristinely non-superconducting materials can lead to a variety of interesting physical phenomena. Particular interest has recently focused on inducing SC into two-dimensional surface states (SSs), potentially also combined with non-trivial topology. We study the mechanism of proximity-induced SC into the Shockley-type SSs of the noble metals Ag(111) and Cu(111) grown on the elemental SC Nb(110) using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The tunneling spectra exhibit an intriguing multitude of sharp states at low energies. Their appearance can be explained by Andreev bound states (ABS) formed by the weakly proximitized SSs subject to lateral finite-size confinement. We study systematically how the proximity gap in the bulk states of both Ag(111) and Cu(111) persists up to island thicknesses of several times the bulk coherence length of Nb. We find that even for thick islands, the SSs acquire a gap, with the gap size for Cu being consistently larger than for Ag. Based on this, we argue that the SC in the SS is not provided through direct overlap of the SS wavefunction with the SC host but can be understood to be mediated by step edges inducing electronic coupling to the bulk. Our work provides important input for the microscopic understanding of induced superconductivity in heterostructures and its spectral manifestation. Moreover, it lays the foundation for more complex SC heterostructures based on noble metals.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Search for large topological gaps in atomic spin chains on proximitized superconducting heavy metal layers

One-dimensional systems comprising s-wave superconductivity with meticulously tuned magnetism and spin-orbit coupling can realize topologically gapped superconductors hosting Majorana edge modes whose stability is determined by the gap's size. The ongoing quest for larger topological gaps evolved into a material science issue. However, for atomic spin chains on superconductor surfaces, the effect of the substrate's spin-orbit coupling on the system's topological gap size is largely unexplored. Here, we introduce an atomic layer of the heavy metal Au on Nb(110) which combines strong spin-orbit coupling and a large superconducting gap with a high crystallographic quality enabling the assembly of defect-free Fe chains using a scanning tunneling microscope tip. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments and density functional theory calculations reveal ferromagnetic coupling and ungapped YSR bands in the chain despite of the heavy substrate. By artificially imposing a spin spiral state our calculations indicate a minigap opening and zero-energy edge state formation. The presented methodology paves the way towards a material screening of heavy metal layers on elemental superconductors for ideal systems hosting Majorana edge modes protected by large topological gaps.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Testing the topological nature of end states in antiferromagnetic atomic chains on superconductors

Edge states forming at the boundaries of topologically non-trivial phases of matter are promising candidates for future device applications because of their stability against local perturbations. Magnetically ordered spin chains proximitized by an s-wave superconductor are predicted to enter a topologically non-trivial mini-gapped phase with zero-energy Majorana modes (MMs) localized at their ends. However, the presence of non-topological end states mimicking MM properties can spoil their unambiguous observation. Here, we report on a method to experimentally decide on the MM nature of end states observed for the first time in antiferromagnetic spin chains. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we find end states at either finite or near-zero energy in Mn chains on Nb(110) or Ta(110), respectively, within a large minigap. By introducing a locally perturbing defect on one end of the chain, the end state on this side splits off from zero-energy while the one on the other side doesn't - ruling out their MM origin. A minimal model shows that, while wide trivial minigaps hosting such conventional end states are easily achieved in antiferromagnetic spin chains, unrealistically large spin-orbit couplings are required to drive the system into the topologically nontrivial phase with MMs. The methodology of perturbing chains by local defects is a powerful tool to probe the stability of future candidate topological edge modes against local disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Majorana modes with side features in magnet-superconductor hybrid systems

Magnet-superconductor hybrid (MSH) systems represent promising platforms to host Majorana zero modes (MZMs), the elemental building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computers. Theoretical description of such MSH structures is mostly based on simplified models, not accounting for the complexity of real materials. Here, based on density functional theory, we derive a superconducting 80-band model to study an MSH system consisting of a magnetic manganese chain on the s wave superconductor niobium. For a wide range of values of the superconducting order parameter, the system is a topological superconductor, with MZMs exhibiting non-universal spatial patterns and a drastic accumulation of spectral weight on both sides along the magnetic chain. These side feature states can be explained by an effective model which is guided by the ab initio results. Performing scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments on the same system, we observe a spatial structure in the low-energy local density of states that is consistent with the theoretical findings. Our results open a first-principle approach to the discovery of topological superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Proximity superconductivity in atom-by-atom crafted quantum dots

Gapless materials in electronic contact with superconductors acquire proximity-induced superconductivity in a region near the interface. Numerous proposals build on this addition of electron pairing to originally non-superconducting systems like ferromagnets and predict intriguing quantum phases of matter, including topological-, odd-frequency-, or nodal-point superconductivity. However, atomic-scale experimental investigations of the microscopic mechanisms leading to proximity-induced Cooper pairing in surface or interface states are missing. Here, we investigate the most miniature example of the proximity effect on only a single quantum level of a surface state confined in a quantum corral on a superconducting substrate, built atom-by-atom by a scanning tunneling microscope. Whenever an eigenmode of the corral is pitched close to the Fermi energy by adjusting the corral's size, a pair of particle-hole symmetric states enters the superconductor's gap. We identify the in-gap states as scattering resonances theoretically predicted 50 years ago by Machida and Shibata, which had so far eluded detection. We further show that the observed anticrossings of the in-gap states indicate proximity-induced pairing in the quantum corral's eigenmodes. Our results have direct consequences on the interpretation of in-gap states in unconventional or topological superconductors, corroborate concepts to induce superconductivity into a single quantum level and further pave the way towards superconducting artificial lattices.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Epitaxial growth of a two-dimensional topological insulator candidate: monolayer Si2Te2

Hexagonal Si2Te2 monolayers (ML-Si2Te2) were predicted to show strain-dependent band-crossover between semiconducting and room-temperature quantum spin Hall phases. However, investigations on this artificial two-dimensional (2D) material have mainly been restricted to theoretical calculations because its bulk counterpart does not exist naturally. Here, we report on the successful epitaxial growth of ML-Si2Te2 films on Sb2Te3 thin film substrates. High-quality (1*1) ML-Si2Te2 films with a coverage as high as 95% were obtained as revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the absence of intermixing between Si2Te2 and Sb2Te3 at the interface. By combining scanning tunneling spectroscopy with density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate the semiconducting band structure of ML-Si2Te2 on Sb2Te3. Furthermore, it is theoretically predicted that the system can be driven into the nontrivial phase via reducing the strain by 4.4% using strain engineering. Our results pave the way for in-depth investigations on this 2D topological insulator candidate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Systematic study of Mn atoms, artificial dimers and chains on superconducting Ta(110)

Magnetic adatoms coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor give rise to local bound states, so-called Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states. Focusing on the ultimate goal of tailoring chains of such adatoms into a topologically superconducting phase, we investigate basic building blocks - single Fe and Mn adatoms and Mn dimers on clean superconducting Ta(110) - using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We perform a systematic study of the hybridizations and splittings in dimers, and their dependence on the crystallographic directions and interatomic spacings, in order to identify potentially interesting chain geometries for this novel sample type. Subsequently, we study the spin structure as well as the length dependent Shiba band structure in Mn chains of those geometries using spin-resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy. All results are compared to the according properties of structurally identical dimers and chains on the previously studied Nb(110), which has almost identical surface structure and electronic properties, but an about three times smaller spin-orbit interaction.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Correlation of Magnetism and Disordered Shiba Bands in Fe Monolayer Islands on Nb(110)

Two-dimensional (2D) magnet-superconductor hybrid systems are intensively studied due to their potential for the realization of 2D topological superconductors with Majorana edge modes. It is theoretically predicted that this quantum state is ubiquitous in spin-orbit coupled ferromagnetic or skyrmionic 2D spin-lattices in proximity to an s-wave superconductor. However, recent examples suggest that the requirements for topological superconductivity are complicated by the multi-orbital nature of the magnetic components and disorder effects. Here, we investigate Fe monolayer islands grown on a surface of the s-wave superconductor with the largest gap of all elemental superconductors, Nb, with respect to magnetism and superconductivity using spin-resolved scanning tunneling spectrosopy. We find three types of Fe monolayer islands which differ by their reconstruction inducing disorder, the magnetism and the sub-gap electronic states. All three types are ferromagnetic with different coercive fields indicating diverse exchange and anisotropy energies. On all three islands, there is finite spectral weight throughout the substrate's energy gap at the expense of the coherence peak intensity, indicating the formation of Shiba bands overlapping with the Fermi energy. The gap filling and coherence peak reduction is strongest for the island with largest coercive field. A strong lateral variation of the spectral weight of the Shiba bands signifies substantial disorder on the order of the substrate's pairing energy with a length scale of the period of the three different reconstructions. There are neither signs of topological gaps within these bands nor of any kind of edge modes. Our work illustrates that a reconstructed growth mode of magnetic layers on superconducting surfaces is detrimental for the formation of 2D topological superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Structural and Superconducting Properties of Ultrathin Ir Films on Nb(110)

The ongoing quest for unambiguous signatures of topological superconductivity and Majorana modes in magnet-superconductor hybrid systems creates a high demand for suitable superconducting substrates. Materials that incorporate $s$-wave superconductivity with a wide energy gap, large spin-orbit coupling, and high surface quality, which enable the atom-by-atom construction of magnetic nanostructures using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope, are particularly desired. Since single materials rarely fulfill all these requirements we propose and demonstrate the growth of thin films of a high-Z metal, Ir, on a surface of the elemental superconductor with the largest energy gap, Nb. We find a strained Ir(110)/Nb(110)-oriented superlattice for one to two atomic layer thin films, which transitions to a compressed Ir(111) surface for 10 atomic layer thick films. Using tunneling spectroscopy we observe proximity-induced superconductivity in the latter Ir(111) film with a hard gap $Δ$ that is $85.3\%$ of that of bare Nb(110).

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Evidence of topological Shiba bands in artificial spin chains on superconductors

A major challenge in developing topological superconductors for implementing topological quantum computing is their characterization and control. It has been proposed that a p-wave gapped topological superconductor can be fabricated with single-atom precision by assembling chains of magnetic atoms on s-wave superconductors with spin-orbit coupling. Here, we analyze the Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference in atom-by-atom constructed Mn chains on Nb(110) and for the first time reveal the formation of multi-orbital Shiba bands using momentum resolved measurements. We find evidence that one band features a topologically non-trivial p-wave gap as inferred from its shape and particle-hole asymmetric intensity. Our work is an important step towards a distinct experimental determination of topological phases in multi-orbital systems by bulk electron band structure properties only.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Controlled length-dependent interaction of Majorana modes in Yu-Shiba-Rusinov chains

Magnetic atoms on superconductors induce localized Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) bound states. The proposal that topological superconductivity and Majorana modes can be engineered in arrays of hybridizing YSR states has led to their intense investigation. Here, we study Majorana modes emerging from bands of hybridized YSR states in artificially constructed Manganese (Mn) chains on superconducting Niobium (Nb). By controlling the chain geometry on the single atom level, we can measure the interaction-induced energy splitting of Majorana modes from both chain's ends with increasing chain length. We find periodic lengths where their interaction is tuned to zero within the experimental energy resolution. Our work unravels ways to manipulate and minimize interactions between Majorana modes in finite-size systems as required for Majorana-based storage and processing of quantum information.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Disorder-induced time effect in the antiferromagnetic domain state of Fe1+yTe

We report on temperature-dependent soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements utilizing linearly polarized synchrotron radiation to probe magnetic phase transitions in iron-rich Fe1+yTe. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) signals, which sense magnetic ordering processes at surfaces, start to increase monotonically below the Néel temperature TN = 57 K. This increase is due to a progressive bicollinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) alignment of Fe spins of the monoclinic Fe1+yTe parent phase. This AFM alignment was achieved by a [100]-oriented biasing field favoring a single-domain state during cooling across TN. Our specific heat and magnetization measurements confirm the bulk character of this AFM phase transition. On longer time scales, however, we observe that the field-biased AFM state is highly unstable even at the lowest temperature of T = 3 K. After switching off the biasing field, the XMLD signal decays exponentially with a time constant τ = 1506 s. The initial XMLD signal is restored only upon repeating a cycle consisting of heating and field-cooling through TN. We explain the time effect by a gradual formation of a multi-domain state with 90 deg rotated AFM domains, promoted by structural disorder, facilitating the motion of twin-domains. Significant disorder in our Fe1+yTe sample is evident from our X-ray diffraction and specific heat data. The stability of magnetic phases in Fe-chalcogenides is an important material property, since the Fe(Te1-xSex) phase diagram shows magnetism intimately connected with superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗