Skip to main content
Article
Conductance Spectroscopy of Exfoliated Thin Flakes of NbₓBi₂Se₃
Nano Letters
  • Cihan Kurter, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • A. D. K. Finck
  • E. D. Huemiller
  • Julia E. Medvedeva, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Thomas Vojta, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Yew San Hor, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • For full list of authors, see publisher's website., For full list of authors, see publisher's website.
Abstract

We study unconventional superconductivity in exfoliated single crystals of a promising three-dimensional (3D) topological superconductor candidate, Nb-doped Bi2Se3 through differential conductance spectroscopy and magneto-transport. The strong anisotropy of the critical field along the out-of-plane direction suggests that the thin exfoliated flakes are in the quasi-2D limit. Normal metal-superconductor (NS) contacts with either high or low transparencies made by depositing gold leads onto Nb-doped Bi2Se3 flakes both show significant enhancement in zero bias conductance and coherence dips at the superconducting energy gap. Such behavior is inconsistent with conventional Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory. Instead, we discuss how our results are consistent with p-wave pairing symmetry, supporting the possibility of topological superconductivity in Nb-doped Bi2Se3. Finally, we observe signatures of multiple superconducting energy gaps, which could originate from multiple Fermi surfaces reported earlier in bulk crystals.

Department(s)
Physics
Research Center/Lab(s)
Center for High Performance Computing Research
Keywords and Phrases
  • Andreev reflection spectroscopy,
  • doped topological insulators,
  • exfoliated Nb x Bi 2 Se 3,
  • Majorana bound states,
  • p-wave pairing symmetry,
  • Topological superconductivity
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2019 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Publication Date
01 Jan 2019
Disciplines
Citation Information
Cihan Kurter, A. D. K. Finck, E. D. Huemiller, Julia E. Medvedeva, et al.. "Conductance Spectroscopy of Exfoliated Thin Flakes of NbₓBi₂Se₃" Nano Letters Vol. 19 Iss. 1 (2019) p. 38 - 45 ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/julia-medvedeva/77/