Dirac surface states and nature of superconductivity in Noncentrosymmetric BiPd

Zhixiang Sun, Mostafa Enayat, Ana Maldonado, Calum Lithgow, Ed Yelland, Darren C. Peets, Alexander Yaresko, Andreas P. Schnyder () and Peter Wahl ()
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Zhixiang Sun: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Mostafa Enayat: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Ana Maldonado: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Calum Lithgow: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh
Ed Yelland: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh
Darren C. Peets: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Alexander Yaresko: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Andreas P. Schnyder: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1
Peter Wahl: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract In non-magnetic bulk materials, inversion symmetry protects the spin degeneracy. If the bulk crystal structure lacks a centre of inversion, however, spin–orbit interactions lift the spin degeneracy, leading to a Rashba metal whose Fermi surfaces exhibit an intricate spin texture. In superconducting Rashba metals a pairing wavefunction constructed from these complex spin structures will generally contain both singlet and triplet character. Here we examine the possible triplet components of the order parameter in noncentrosymmetric BiPd, combining for the first time in a noncentrosymmetric superconductor macroscopic characterization, atomic-scale ultra-low-temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, and relativistic first-principles calculations. While the superconducting state of BiPd appears topologically trivial, consistent with Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory with an order parameter governed by a single isotropic s-wave gap, we show that the material exhibits Dirac-cone surface states with a helical spin polarization.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7633

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