Symmetry protected Josephson supercurrents in three-dimensional topological insulators

Sungjae Cho, Brian Dellabetta, Alina Yang, John Schneeloch, Zhijun Xu, Tonica Valla, Genda Gu, Matthew J. Gilbert and Nadya Mason ()
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Sungjae Cho: Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois
Brian Dellabetta: University of Illinois
Alina Yang: Brookhaven National Laboratory
John Schneeloch: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Zhijun Xu: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Tonica Valla: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Genda Gu: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Matthew J. Gilbert: University of Illinois
Nadya Mason: Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Coupling the surface state of a topological insulator to an s-wave superconductor is predicted to produce the long-sought Majorana quasiparticle excitations. However, superconductivity has not been measured in surface states when the bulk charge carriers are fully depleted, that is, in the true topological regime relevant for investigating Majorana modes. Here we report measurements of d.c. Josephson effects in topological insulator–superconductor junctions as the chemical potential is moved through the true topological regime characterized by the presence of only surface currents. We compare our results with three-dimensional quantum transport simulations, and determine the effects of bulk/surface mixing, disorder and magnetic field; in particular, we show that the supercurrent is largely carried by surface states, due to the inherent topology of the bands, and that it is robust against disorder. Our results thus clarify key open issues regarding the nature of supercurrents in topological insulators.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2701

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