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Unconventional Meissner screening induced by chiral molecules in a conventional superconductor
- Source :
- Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 114801 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The coupling of a superconductor to a different material often results in a system with unconventional superconducting properties. A conventional superconductor is a perfect diamagnet expelling magnetic fields out of its volume, a phenomenon known as Meissner effect. Here, we show that the simple adsorption of a monolayer of chiral molecules, which are non-magnetic in solution, onto the surface of a conventional superconductor can markedly change its diamagnetic Meissner response. By measuring the internal magnetic field profile in superconducting Nb thin films under an applied transverse field by low-energy muon spin rotation spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the local field profile inside Nb is considerably modified upon molecular adsorption in a way that also depends on the applied field direction. The modification is not limited to the chiral molecules/Nb interface, but it is long ranged and occurs over a length scale comparable to the superconducting coherence length. Zero-field muon spin spectroscopy measurements in combination with our theoretical analysis show that odd-frequency spin-triplet states induced by the chiral molecules are responsible for the modification of the Meissner response observed inside Nb. These results indicate that a chiral molecules/superconductor system supports odd-frequency spin-triplet pairs due to the molecules acting as a spin active layer and therefore they imply that such system can be used as a simpler alternative to superconductor/ferromagnet or superconductor/topological insulator hybrids for the generation and manipulation of unconventional spin-triplet superconducting states.<br />Comment: 13 pages and 5 figures plus Appendixes
- Subjects :
- Condensed Matter - Superconductivity
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 114801 (2021)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2111.07124
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.114801