Holographic insulator/superconductor phase transitions with excited states

We construct a family of solutions of the holographic insulator/superconductor phase transitions with the excited states in the AdS soliton background by using both the numerical and analytical methods. The interesting point is that the improved SturmLiouville method can not only analytically investigate the properties of the phase transition with the excited states, but also the distributions of the condensed fields in the vicinity of the critical point. We observe that, regardless of the type of the holographic model, the excited state has a higher critical chemical potential than the corresponding ground state, and the difference of the dimensionless critical chemical potential between the consecutive states is around 2.4, which is different from the finding of the metal/superconductor phase transition in the Ad S black hole background. Furthermore, near the critical point, we find that the phase transition of the systems is of the second order and a linear relationship exists between the charge density and chemical potential for all the excited states in both s-wave and p-wave insulator/superconductor models.     

Holographic multi-band superconductor

We propose a gravity dual for the holographic superconductor with multi-band carriers. Moreover, the currents of these carriers are unified under a global flavored SO(3) symmetry, which is dual to the bulk SO(3) gauge symmetry. We study the phase diagram of our model, and find it qualitatively agrees with the one for the realistic 2-band superconductor, such as MgB₂. We also identify the bulk field dual to the electromagnetic UEM(1) current, which should be invariant under the global flavored SO(3) rotation. We then evaluate the corresponding holographic conductivity and find the expected mean field like behaviors.     

Charge transfer between a superconductor and a hopping insulator

We develop a theory of the low-temperature charge transfer between a superconductor and a hopping insulator. We show that the charge transfer is governed by the coherent two-electron-Cooper pair conversion process time-reversal reflection, where electrons tunnel into a superconductor from the localized states in the hopping insulator located near the interface, and calculate the corresponding interface resistance. A specific feature of this problem is the interplay between the time-reversal reflection at the interface and transport through the percolation cluster. To allow for this interplay, we have generalized the connectivity criterion of the percolation theory to include surface effects. We show that the time-reversal interface resistance is accessible experimentally, and that in mesoscopic structures it can exceed the bulk hopping resistance.     

Direct transition between a singlet Mott insulator and a superconductor

We argue that a normal Fermi liquid and a singlet, spin-gapped Mott insulator cannot be continuously connected, and that some intermediate phase must intrude between them. By explicitly working out a case study where the singlet insulator is stabilized by orbital degeneracy and an inverted Hund's rule coupling, mimicking a Jahn-Teller effect, we find that the intermediate phase is a superconductor.     

Holographic diffraction gratings with multilayer insulator coatings

Based on numerical modeling of metallized diffraction gratings with multilayer insulator coatings, the diffraction efficiency of such gratings is investigated, assuming that the initial profile of the metallized grat-ing is not reproduced in the course of sequential deposition of coating layers. From comparison of experimental and calculated data, it is concluded that the initial grating relief is subject to considerable smoothing. The new nontraditional range of the optimum values of layer thicknesses, which provides a high diffraction efficiency in the operating wavelength range of 1.06 μm, is suggested. The stability of the diffraction efficiency with respect to random errors in the thickness of insulator layers deposited is investigated numerically.     

拓扑绝缘体/超导体异质结中的近邻效应

拓扑超导体自身具有对量子退相干天然的免疫性以及可编织性,这使得它在现代量子计算领域中受到了越来越多的重视,并且成为了下一代计算技术中最有希望的候选者之一。由于拓扑超导态在固有拓扑超导体中相当罕见,因此,当前大部分实验上的工作主要集中在由 s 波超导体与拓扑绝缘体之间通过近邻效应所诱导的拓扑超导体上。本论文中,我们回顾了基于拓扑绝缘体/超导体异质结的拓扑超导体的研究进展。在理论上,Fu 和 Kane 提出,通过近邻效应将 s 波超导体的能隙引入到拓扑绝缘体,可以诱导出拓扑超导电性。在实验上,我们也回顾了一些不同体系中的拓扑超导近邻效应的研究进展。文章的第一部分,我们介绍了一些异质结,包括：三维拓扑绝缘体 Bi2Se3和 Bi2Se3 与 s 波超导体NbSe2 以及 d 波超导体 Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ 的异质结,拓扑绝缘体 Sn1−xPbxTe 与 Pb 的异质结,二维拓扑绝缘体 WTe2 与NbSe2 的异质结。此外,还介绍了 TiBiSe2 在 Pb 上的拓扑绝缘近邻效应。另一部分中,我们对基于拓扑绝缘体的约瑟夫森结进行了回顾,包括著名的基于 Fu-Kane 体系的拓扑绝缘体约瑟夫森结,以及基于约瑟夫森结的超导量子干涉器件。     

Tunneling transport in topological insulator normal metal/insulator/d-wave superconductor junctions

We investigate the tunneling conductance in a normal metal/insulator/d-wave superconductor (NM/I/d-wave SC) junction with a barrier of thickness d and with an arbitrary gate voltage V(0) applied across the barrier region, formed on the surface of a topological insulator, using the Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation and Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk?(BTK) formalism. We find that the tunneling conductance as a function of both d and V(0) displays an oscillatory behavior whose amplitude decreases with increase of V(0). We also find that when the Andreev resonant condition is met, the tunneling conductance approaches a maximum value of 2G(0), independent of the gate voltage V(0).     

Holographic superconductor in the analytic hairy black hole

We study the charged black hole of hyperbolic horizon with scalar hair (charged Martinez-Troncoso-Zanelli: CMTZ black hole) as a model of analytic hairy black hole for holographic superconductor. For this purpose, we investigate the second order phase transition between CMTZ and hyperbolic Reissner-Nordström-AdS (HRNAdS) black holes. However, this transition unlikely occurs. As an analytic treatment for holographic superconductor, we develop superconductor in the bulk and superfluidity on the boundary using the CMTZ black hole below the critical temperature. The presence of charge destroys the condensates around the zero temperature, which is in accord with the thermodynamic analysis of the CMTZ black hole.     

Spin transport properties in ferromagnet/superconductor junctions on topological insulator

The spin-dependent Andreev reflection is investigated theoretically by analyzing the electronic transport in a thin-film topological insulator (TI) ferromagnet/superconductor (FM/SC) junction. The tunneling conductance and shot noise are calculated based on the Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation and Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory. It is found that the magnetic gap in ferromagnet can enhance the Andreev retro-reflection but suppress the specular Andreev reflection. The gate potential applied to the electrode on top of superconductor can enhance the two types of reflections. There is a transition between the two types of reflections at which both the tunneling conductance and differential shot noise become zero. These results provide a method to realize and detect experimentally the intra-band specular Andreev reflection in thin film TI-based FM/SC structures.     

Holographic superconductor models in the non-minimal derivative coupling theory

We study a general class of holographic superconductor models via the Stu¨ckelberg mechanism in the non-minimal derivative coupling theory in which the charged scalar field is kinetically coupling to Einstein’s tensor. We explore the effects of the coupling parameter on the critical temperature, the order of phase transitions and the critical expo- nents near the second-order phase transition point. Moreover, we compute the electrical conductivity using the probe approximation and check the ratios ω g /T c for the different coupling parameters.     

Ferromagnetic insulator effects in ferromagnetic semiconductor/ferromagnetic insulator/p-wave superconductor junctions

The effect of the ferromagnetic insulator on tunneling conductance in ferromagnetic semiconductor/ferromagnetic insulator/p-wave superconductor (FS/FI/P) junctions is studied based on a scattering theory. Three kinds of pairings for the P side are chosen: p_x, p_{y ,}p_x+ip_y waves. It is shown that the spin filtering effect originating from the exchange field in the FI strongly modifies the normalization conductance. Many novel features including the zero-bias conductance dip and splitting are exhibited for fixed spin polarization in the FS. The tunneling spectrum for the heavy holes is much different from that for the light holes due to the different mismatches in the effective mass and Fermi velocity between FS and P.     

Magnetic gap effect on the tunneling conductance in a topological insulator ferromagnet/superconductor junction

The tunneling conductance on the surface of a topological-insulator-based ferromagnet/superconductor (F/S) structure is studied where S is an s-wave superconductor with superconducting order parameter ∼Δ. The conductance is calculated based on the BTK formalism. The magnetization in F is applied along the z-direction () in order to induce the energy-mass gaps (m) for the Dirac electrons in the F-region. In this work, the influence of energy gap due to the magnetic field in the F-region on the conductance is emphasized. The Fermi energy mismatch between F (EFF=EF) and S (EFS=EF+U), where the gate potential U is applied to the electrode on top of S, is also considered. As a result, a biased voltage V can cause the conductance switch at eV=Δ, depending on the value of the magnetic field. The conductance is found to be linearly dependent on either m or U. The slope of the curve can also be adjusted. This linear behavior in a topological-insulator-based F/S structure may be valuable for electronic applications of the linear-control-current devices. The tunneling conductances of the quasi-Dirac-particle in a topological-insulator-based F/S junction are quite different from those of a graphene-based F/S junction.     

Current-carrying states in superconductor/insulator and superconductor/semiconductor superlattices in the mesoscopic regime

We discuss some of the basic theoretical aspects of current-carrying states in superconducting superlattices with tunnel barriers in the mesoscopic regime, when p₀ ^− 1 ⪡ a ⪡ ξ₀(a is the superconducting layer thickness, p₀is the Fermi momentum, ξ₀is the BCS coherence length and ℏ =  1). We establish the necessary conditions for the observation of the classical Josephson effect (with sinusoidal current–phase dependence) and derive self-consistent analytical expressions for the critical Josephson current. These expressions are proportional to the small factor a / ξ₀and have unusual temperature dependence as compared with the single-junction case. For certain parameter values, the superconducting gap exhibits an exponential decrease due to pair-breaking effect of the supercurrent. The supercurrent can completely destroy the superconductivity of the system above a certain characteristic temperature T ^* . In this paper, we also study the effect of intrabarrier exchange interactions. We show that this effect is strongly enhanced compared with the single-junction case and can manifest itself in an exponential decrease of the critical temperature.     

Surface polaritons at the interface between anisotropic superconductor and insulator

The dispersion, polarization, and energy characteristics of surface polaritons propagating along the interface between an isotropic insulator and an anisotropic superconductor are studied. The permittivity is calculated in the two-fluid model of superconducting and normal electrons. It is demonstrated that the properties of the surface wave are strongly dependent on the physical characteristics of the media, frequency, and temperature.     

Tunneling conductance in topological insulator ferromagnet/p-wave superconductor junctions

The tunneling conductance in topological insulator (TI) ferromagnet/p-wave superconductor (FM/pS) junction is studied based on the Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk (BTK) theory. The Fermi energy mismatch between FM and pS as well as the finite quasiparticle lifetime are considered. Three kinds of pairings p_x, p_y, and p_x+ip_y-waves for pS are chosen. It is found that the spectrum strongly depend on the magnetic gap, the gate potential, the quasiparticle lifetime as well as the type of the pair potential symmetry. The pair potential symmetry drastically affects the formation of the zero-energy bound states dependent on the magneto effect or the Fermi energy mismatch effect. The finite quasiparticle lifetime effect can suppress the Andreev resonant scattering process at eV=Δ₀ and smear the dips in the conductance.     

Holographic superconductor developed in BTZ black hole background with backreactions

We develop a holographic superconductor in BTZ black hole background with backreactions. We investigate the influence of the backreaction on the condensation of the scalar hair and the dynamics of perturbation in the background spacetime. When the Breitenlohner-Freedman bound is approached, we argue that only one of two possible operators can reflect the real property of the condensation in the holographic superconductor. This argument is supported by the investigation in dynamics.     

Ferromagnetic features of zero-bias conductance peaks in a ferromagnet/insulator/superconductor junction

We present a general formula for tunneling conductance in ballistic ferromagnet/ferromagnetic insulator/superconductor junctions where the superconducting state has the opposite spin pairing symmetry. The formula shows, correctly, that ferromagnetism has been induced by the effective mass difference between up- and down-spin electrons. This effectively mass mismatched ferromagnet and a standard Stoner ferromagnet have been employed in this paper. As an application of the formulation, we have studied the tunneling effect for junctions including a spin-triplet p-wave superconductor, where we choose a normal insulator for the insulating region, although our formula can be used for a ferromagnetic insulator. Then, we have been able to devote our attention to features of a ferromagnetic metal. The conductance spectra show a clear difference between the two ferromagnets depending upon the method of normalization of the conductance. In particular, an essential difference is seen in the zero-bias conductance peaks, reflecting the characteristics of each ferromagnet. From the obtained results, we suggest that the measurements of the tunneling conductance in the junction provide us with useful information about the mechanism of itinerant ferromagnetism in metals.     

Spin-polarized quasiparticle transport in ferromagnet/insulator/p-wave superconductor junction

We have studied the tunneling conductance in ferromagnet/insulator/p-wave superconductor junctions, taking into account the rough interface scattering effect. We find that there exist zero-bias conductance peaks and single-minimum structure in tunneling spectroscopy. As the exchange energy increases, the Andreev reflection is always suppressed and the differential conductance decreases. The differential conductance depends on the barrier strength and the roughness at the interface. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China (Grant No. 06KJB140009)     

量子线/绝缘层/p波超导体结的隧道谱

用Bogoliubov-de Gennes方程来研究量子线/绝缘层/p波超导体结(q/I/p)中的准粒子输运过程，利用推广的Blonder，Tinkham和Klapwijk模型计算绝对零度和有限温度下q/I/p的一级谐波隧道谱.和量子线/绝缘层/d波超导体结的一级谐波隧道谱不同的是q/I/p的一级谐波隧道谱中存在零偏压电导峰.随着q/I/p中绝缘层的势垒散射增强，q/I/p的一级谐波隧道谱中零偏压电导峰变高.