Li Y, Chan YH, Hlevyack JA, Bowers JW, Chou MY, Chiang TC. Topological Quantum Well States in Pb/Sb Thin-Film Heterostructures.
ACS Nano 2024;
18:10243-10248. [PMID:
38530641 PMCID:
PMC11008363 DOI:
10.1021/acsnano.4c00724]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Composite topological heterostructures, wherein topologically protected states are electronically tuned due to their proximity to other matter, are key avenues for exploring emergent physical phenomena. Particularly, pairing a topological material with a superconductor such as Pb is a promising means for generating a topological superconducting phase with exotic Majorana quasiparticles, but oft-neglected is the emergence of bulklike spin-polarized states that are quite relevant to applications. Using high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations, we report the emergence of bulk-like spin-polarized topological quantum well states with long coherence lengths in Pb films grown on the topological semimetal Sb. The results establish Pb/Sb heterostructures as topological superconductor candidates and advance the current understanding of topological coupling effects required for realizing emergent physics and for designing advanced spintronic device architectures.
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