Current driven vortex-antivortex pair breaking and vortex explosion in the Bi2Te3/FeTe interfacial superconductor

Abstract

We investigated the dissipative regime of the Bi 2 Te 3 /FeTe topological insulatorchalcogenide interface superconductor at temperatures well below the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We observe a transition in the current-resistance and temperature-resistance curves that quantitatively agrees with the Likharev vortex-explosion phenomenon. In the limit of low temperatures and high current densities, we were able to demonstrate the regime of complete vortex-antivortex dissociation arising from current driven vortex-antivortex pair breaking.

Studies on the origin of the interfacial superconductivity of Sb 2 Te 3 /Fe 1+y Te heterostructures

“…For example, topological superconductivity (SC) has been theoretically predicted to be induced on the surface of TI-superconductor heterostructure via proximity effect, which may provide a platform to host non-Abelian Majorana fermions 5 . Interestingly, our group recently discovered a novel two-dimensional (2D) SC at the interface of two non-superconducting materials 6,7 , Fe1+yTe, a parent compound of iron-based superconductors, and Bi2Te3, a 3D TI, and later we reported further studies on this heterostructure such as the superconducting proximity effect 8 , current induced depairing 9 , anisotropic magnetic responses 10 and vortex dynamics 11,12 . Due to the complexity of this heterostructure, revealing the underlying mechanism of its induced 2D SC with a theoretical approach is very unlikely.…”

Evaluating Superconductors through Current Induced Depairing

“…Uppercritical-field measurements [41] and vortex-explosion measurements [45] showed that the superconductivity occurred within an interfacial layer of thickness d = 7 nm, which was much thinner than both the FeTe and Bi 2 Te 3 layers. Projection photolithography followed by argon-ion milling was used to pattern narrow microbridges optimized for the high current-density pulsed four-probe measurements.…”