Controlling the Superconducting Transition by Rotation of an Inversion Symmetry-Breaking Axis

We consider a hybrid structure where a material with Rashba-like spin-orbit coupling is proximity coupled to a conventional superconductor. We find that the superconducting critical temperature \(T_c\) can be tuned by rotating the vector \(\boldsymbol{n}\) characterizing the axis of broken inversion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Johnsen, Lina G, Svalland, Kristian, Linder, Jacob
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 19.08.2020
Subjects
Broken symmetry
Cooper pairs
Critical temperature
Cubic lattice
Hybrid structures
Phase transitions
Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Physics - Superconductivity
Rotation
Spin-orbit interactions
Superconductivity
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Summary:We consider a hybrid structure where a material with Rashba-like spin-orbit coupling is proximity coupled to a conventional superconductor. We find that the superconducting critical temperature \(T_c\) can be tuned by rotating the vector \(\boldsymbol{n}\) characterizing the axis of broken inversion symmetry. This is explained by a leakage of \(s\)-wave singlet Cooper pairs out of the superconducting region, and by conversion of \(s\)-wave singlets into other types of correlations, among these \(s\)-wave odd-frequency pairs robust to impurity scattering. These results demonstrate a conceptually different way of tuning \(T_c\) compared to the previously studied variation of \(T_c\) in magnetic hybrids.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1909.01345