arXiv subjects

Pablo Burset

Publications and source records attributed to Pablo Burset.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Tunable hybridization of Majorana bound states at the quantum spin Hall edge

Confinement at the helical edge of a topological insulator is possible in the presence of proximity-induced magnetic (F) or superconducting (S) order. The interplay of both phenomena leads to the formation of localized Majorana bound states (MBS) or likewise (under certain resonance conditions) the formation of ordinary Andreev bound states (ABS). We investigate the properties of bound states in junctions composed of alternating regions of F or S barriers. Interestingly, the direction of magnetization in F regions and the relative superconducting phase between S regions can be exploited to hybridize MBS or ABS at will. We show that the local properties of MBS translate into a particular nonlocal superconducting pairing amplitude. Remarkably, the symmetry of the pairing amplitude contains information about the nature of the bound state that it stems from. Hence, this symmetry can in principle be used to distinguish MBS from ABS, owing to the strong connection between local density of states and nonlocal pairing in our setup.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Transport spectroscopy of induced superconductivity in the three-dimensional topological insulator HgTe

The proximity-induced superconducting state in the 3-dimensional topological insulator HgTe has been studied using electronic transport of a normal metal-superconducting point contact as a spectroscopic tool (Andreev point contact spectroscopy). By analyzing the conductance as a function of voltage for various temperatures, magnetic fields and gate-voltages, we find evidence, in equilibrium, for an induced order parameter in HgTe of $70\,μ$eV and a niobium order parameter of $1.1\,$meV. To understand the full conductance curve as a function of applied voltage we suggest a non-equilibrium driven transformation of the quantum transport process where the relevant scattering region and equilibrium reservoirs change with voltage. This implies that the spectroscopy probes the superconducting correlations at different positions in the sample, depending on the bias voltage.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Creation of spin-triplet Cooper pairs in the absence of magnetic ordering

In superconducting spintronics, it is essential to generate spin-triplet Cooper pairs on demand. Up to now, proposals to do so concentrate on hybrid structures in which a superconductor (SC) is combined with a magnetically ordered material (or an external magnetic field). We, instead, identify a novel way to create and isolate spin-triplet Cooper pairs in the absence of any magnetic ordering. This achievement is only possible because we drive a system with strong spin-orbit interaction--the Dirac surface states of a strong topological insulator (TI)--out of equilibrium. In particular, we consider a bipolar TI-SC-TI junction, where the electrochemical potentials in the outer leads differ in their overall sign. As a result, we find that nonlocal singlet pairing across the junction is completely suppressed for any excitation energy. Hence, this junction acts as a perfect spin triplet filter across the SC generating equal-spin Cooper pairs via crossed Andreev reflection.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Current fluctuations in unconventional superconductor junctions with impurity scattering

The order parameter of bulk two-dimensional superconductors is classified as nodal, if it vanishes for a direction in momentum space, or gapful if it does not. Each class can be topologically nontrivial if Andreev bound states are formed at the edges of the superconductor. Non-magnetic impurities in the superconductor affect the formation of Andreev bound states and can drastically change the tunneling spectra for small voltages. Here, we investigate the mean current and its fluctuations for two-dimensional tunnel junctions between a normal-metal and unconventional superconductors by solving the quasi-classical Eilenberger equation self-consistently, including the presence of non-magnetic impurities in the superconductor. As the impurity strength increases, we find that superconductivity is suppressed for almost all order parameters since (i) at zero applied bias, the effective transferred charge calculated from the noise-current ratio tends to the electron charge $e$ and (ii) for finite bias, the current-voltage characteristics follows that of a normal state junction. There are notable exceptions to this trend. First, gapful nontrivial (chiral) superconductors are very robust against impurity scattering due to the linear dispersion relation of their surface Andreev bound states. Second, for nodal nontrivial superconductors, only p_x-wave pairing is almost immune to the presence of impurities due to the emergence of odd-frequency s-wave Cooper pairs near the interface. Owing to their anisotropic dependence on the wave vector, impurity scattering is an effective pair breaking mechanism for the rest of nodal superconductors. All these behaviors are neatly captured by the noise-current ratio, providing a useful guide to find experimental signatures for unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

The Majorana STM as a perfect detector of odd-frequency superconductivity

We propose a novel scanning tunneling microscope (STM) device in which the tunneling tip is formed by a Majorana bound state (MBS). This peculiar bound state exists at the boundary of a one-dimensional topological superconductor. Since the MBS has to be effectively spinless and local, we argue that it is the smallest unit that shows itself odd-frequency superconducting pairing. Odd-frequency superconductivity is characterized by an anomalous Green function which is an odd function of the time arguments of the two electrons forming the Cooper pair. Interestingly, our Majorana STM can be used as the perfect detector of odd-frequency superconductivity. The reason is that a supercurrent between the Majorana STM and any other superconductor can only flow if the latter system exhibits itself odd-frequency pairing. To illustrate our general idea, we consider the tunneling problem of the Majorana STM coupled to a quantum dot in vicinity to a conventional superconductor. In such a (superconducting) quantum dot, the effective pairing can be tuned from even- to odd-frequency behavior if an external magnetic field is applied to it.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Influence of the impurity scattering on charge transport in unconventional superconductor junctions

We study the influence of non-magnetic impurity scatterings on the tunneling conductance of a junction consisting of a normal metal and a disordered unconventional superconductor by solving the quasiclassical Eilenberger equation self-consistently. We find that the impurity scatterings in both the Born and unitary limits affect the formation of the Andreev bound states and modify strongly the tunneling spectra around zero bias. Our results are interpreted well by the appearance of odd-frequency Cooper pairs near the interface and by the divergent behavior of the impurity self-energy. The present paper provides a useful tool to identify the pairing symmetry of unconventional superconductors in experiments.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

All-electrical generation and control of odd-frequency s-wave Cooper pairs in double quantum dots

We propose an all-electrical experimental setup to detect and manipulate the amplitude of odd-frequency pairing in a double quantum dot. Odd-frequency pair amplitude is induced from the breakdown of orbital symmetry when Cooper pairs are injected in the double dot with electrons in different dots. When the dot levels are aligned with the Fermi energy, i.e., on resonance, nonlocal Andreev processes are directly connected to the presence of odd-frequency pairing. Therefore, their amplitude can be manipulated by tuning the level positions. Detection of nonlocal Andreev processes by conductance measurements contributes a direct proof of the existence of odd-frequency pair amplitude and is available using current experimental techniques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Superconducting proximity effect in three-dimensional topological insulators in the presence of a magnetic field

The proximity induced pair potential in a topological insulator-superconductor hybrid features an interesting superposition of a conventional spin-singlet component from the superconductor and a spin-triplet one induced by the surface state of the topological insulator. This singlet-triplet superposition can be altered by the presence of a magnetic field. We study the interplay between topological order and superconducting correlations performing a symmetry analysis of the induced pair potential, using Green functions techniques to theoretically describe ballistic junctions between superconductors and topological insulators under magnetic fields. We relate a change in the conductance from a gapped profile into one with a zero-energy peak with the transition into a topologically nontrivial regime where the odd-frequency triplet pairing becomes the dominant component in the pair potential. The nontrivial regime, which provides a signature of odd-frequency triplet superconductivity, is reached for an out-of-plane effective magnetization with strength comparable to the chemical potential of the superconductor or for an in-plane one, parallel to the normal-superconductor interface, with strength of the order of the superconducting gap. Strikingly, in the latter case, a misalignment with the interface yields an asymmetry with the energy in the conductance unless the total contribution of the topological surface state is considered.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Odd-Frequency Triplet Superconductivity at the Helical Edge of a Toplogical Insulator

Non-local pairing processes at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator in proximity to an $s$-wave superconductor are usually suppressed by helicity. However, additional proximity of a ferromagnetic insulator can substantially influence the helical constraint and therefore open a new conduction channel by allowing for crossed Andreev reflection (CAR) processes. We show a one-to-one correspondence between CAR and the emergence of odd-frequency triplet superconductivity. Hence, non-local transport experiments that identify CAR in helical liquids yield smoking-gun evidence for unconventional superconductivity. Interestingly, we identify a setup -- composed of a superconductor flanked by two ferromagnetic insulators -- that allows us to favor CAR over electron cotunneling which is known to be a difficult but essential task to be able to measure CAR.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Tunneling spectroscopy and Josephson current of superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids on the surface of a 3D TI

We investigate the charge transport property of superconductor (S) /normal metal (N) / ferromagnet insulator (FI) /(normal metal) N' and S/N/FI/N'/S Josephson junctions on a three-dimensional topological insulator surface. We find asymmetric local density of states (LDOSs) in a S/N/FI/N' junction and show that the finite length of the N interlayer gives rise to subgap resonant spikes in the differential conductance and LDOSs. In a S/N/FI/N'/S junction, the Josephson current shows a non-sinusoidal current-phase relation and the N (or N') interlayer decreases the magnitude of the critical current monotonically.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Transport signatures of superconducting hybrids with mixed singlet and chiral triplet states

We propose a model for a superconductor where both spin-singlet and chiral triplet pairing amplitudes can coexist. By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations with a general pair potential that accounts for both spin states we study experimental signatures of normal metal and superconductor hybrids. The interplay between the spin-singlet and triplet correlations manifests in the appearance of two effective gaps. When the amplitude of the spin-triplet component is stronger than that of the spin-singlet, a topological phase transition into a non-trivial regime occurs. As a result, the normal metal-superconductor conductance evolves from a conventional gap profile onto an unconventional zero-bias peak. Additionally, in the topologically non-trivial phase, Andreev bound states formed at Josephson junctions present zero-energy modes; the number of those modes depends on the relative chirality of the junction. Finally, we present results for the current-phase relation and the temperature dependence of the Josephson critical current within both topological phases for several system parameters.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement detection from conductance measurements in carbon nanotube Cooper pair splitters

Spin-orbit interaction provides a spin filtering effect in carbon nanotube based Cooper pair splitters that allows us to determine spin correlators directly from current measurements. The spin filtering axes are tunable by a global external magnetic field. By a bending of the nanotube the filtering axes on both sides of the Cooper pair splitter become sufficiently different that a test of entanglement of the injected Cooper pairs through the Bell inequality can be implemented. This implementation does not require noise measurements, supports imperfect splitting efficiency and disorder, and does not demand a full knowledge of the spin-orbit strength. Using a microscopic calculation we demonstrate that entanglement detection by violation of the Bell inequality is within the reach of current experimental setups.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗