Studies on proximity effect in Mo/Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3 hybrid structure

TL;DR

This study investigates the proximity effect in a Mo/Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3 hybrid structure, revealing how superconductivity influences topological insulator transport properties through magnetotransport measurements.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the proximity effect between superconducting Mo and topological insulator Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3, including changes in critical fields and quantum oscillations.

Findings

Superconducting transition at 4.3 K in Mo film.

Altered Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations at the junction.

Decreased upper critical field in Mo on TI.

Abstract

Proximity effect in a mechanically exfoliated Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3 topological insulator (TI) single crystal partially covered with disordered superconducting (SC) Mo thin film is reported. Magnetotransport measurement was performed simultaneously across three different regions of the sample viz. SC, TI and SC/TI junction. Resistance measured across SC shows a TC at 4.3 K concomitantly the resistance measurement on TI showed a metallic trend with a steep upturn at TC. Magneto-resistance (MR) measurement on TI exhibit a positive MR with Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations, whereas on SC a positive MR superimposed with steep cusp close to TC is observed. Across SC/TI junction both SdH oscillation and the cusp were observed. The frequency of SdH oscillation on SC/TI junction is found to be lesser (~ 125 T) as compared to a reference Bi1.95Sb0.05Se3sample (~ 174 T). Upper critical field HC2 deduced from WHH fit was found to be 17.14 T for a reference Mo film whereas Mo film deposited on TI showed a decreased HC2 of 4.05 T. The coherence length for the former was found to be 4.38 nm and for the latter 9.01 nm. The interaction between the spin-less Cooper pairs in SC with the spin-momentum locked carriers on the surface of TI is believed to cause such changes in transport properties.