Interplay between Superconductivity and Ferromagnetism on a Topological Insulator

Details Interplay between Superconductivity and Ferromagnetism on a Topological Insulator Interplay between Superconductivity and Ferromagnetism on a Topological Insulator

2010-03-24

arxiv.org/abs/1003.4754v1

Phys. Rev. B 81, 184525 (2010)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Superconductivity

12 pages, 11 figures.

Scientific paper

We study theoretically proximity-induced superconductivity and ferromagnetism on the surface of a topological insulator. In particular, we investigate how the Andreev-bound states are influenced by the interplay between these phenomena, taking also into account the possibility of unconventional pairing. We find a qualitative difference in the excitation spectrum when comparing spin-singlet and spin-triplet pairing, leading to non-gapped excitations in the latter case. The formation of surface-states and their dependence on the magnetization orientation is investigated, and it is found that these states are Majorana fermions in the $d_{xy}$-wave case in stark contrast to the topologically trivial high-$T_c$ cuprates. The signature of such states in the conductance spectra is studied, and we also compute the supercurrent which flows on the surface of the topological insulator when a Josephson junction is deposited on top of it. It is found that the current exhibits an anomalous current-phase relation when the region separating the superconducting banks is ferromagnetic, and we also show that in contrast to the metallic case the exchange field in such a scenario does not induce 0-$\pi$ oscillations in the critical current. Similarly to the high-$T_c$ cuprates, the presence of zero-energy surface states on the topological surface leads to a strong low-temperature enhancement of the critical current.

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