Topological superconductivity in skyrmion lattices

• Main Authors: Eric Mascot, Jasmin Bedow, Martin Graham, Stephan Rachel, Dirk K. Morr
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021-01-01
• Series: npj Quantum Materials
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-020-00299-x

Abstract Atomic manipulation and interface engineering techniques have provided an intriguing approach to custom-designing topological superconductors and the ensuing Majorana zero modes, representing a paradigm for the realization of topological quantum computing and topology-based devices. Magnet-superconductor hybrid (MSH) systems have proven to be experimentally suitable to engineer topological superconductivity through the control of both the complex structure of its magnetic layer and the interface properties of the superconducting surface. Here, we demonstrate that two-dimensional MSH systems containing a magnetic skyrmion lattice provide an unprecedented ability to control the emergence of topological phases. By changing the skyrmion radius, which can be achieved experimentally through an external magnetic field, one can tune between different topological superconducting phases, allowing one to explore their unique properties and the transitions between them. In these MSH systems, Josephson scanning tunneling spectroscopy spatially visualizes one of the most crucial aspects underlying the emergence of topological superconductivity, the spatial structure of the induced spin–triplet correlations.