Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Scheurer, Mathias S
• Schmalian, Jörg

Titel

Topological superconductivity and unconventional pairing in oxide interfaces

Ist Teil von

• Nature communications, 2015-01, Vol.6 (1), p.6005-6005

Ort / Verlag

London: Nature Publishing Group UK

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Pinpointing the microscopic mechanism for superconductivity has proven to be one of the most outstanding challenges in the physics of correlated quantum matter. Thus far, the most direct evidence for an electronic pairing mechanism is the observation of a new symmetry of the order parameter, as done in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Alternatively, global, topological invariants allow for a sharp discrimination between states of matter that cannot be transformed into each other adiabatically. Here we propose an unconventional pairing state for the electron fluid in two-dimensional oxide interfaces and establish a direct link to the emergence of non-trivial topological invariants. Topological signatures, in particular Majorana edge states, can then be used to detect the microscopic origin of superconductivity. In addition, we show that also the density wave states that compete with superconductivity sensitively depend on the nature of the pairing interaction. When the insulators SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 are brought together, a two-dimensional electron gas forms that exhibits both superconductivity and magnetic behaviour. Mathias Scheurer and Jörg Schmalian propose a link between the topological nature of the superconducting state and its microscopic mechanism.