Magnetoelectric Andreev effect due to proximity-induced non-unitary triplet superconductivity in helical metals

TL;DR

This paper introduces the magnetoelectric Andreev effect, where a supercurrent induces spin-polarized triplet conductance in helical metals, revealing a new pathway for electrically controlled superconducting spintronics.

Contribution

It proposes the realization of non-unitary triplet pairing and the magnetoelectric Andreev effect in helical metals, a novel non-equilibrium transport phenomenon in superconducting proximity structures.

Findings

Prediction of spin-polarized triplet Andreev conductance induced by supercurrent

Identification of non-unitary triplet pairing as the mechanism

Potential for electrically controlled superconducting spintronics

Abstract

Non-centrosymmetric superconductors exhibit the magnetoelectric effect which manifests itself in the appearance of the magnetic spin polarization in response to a dissipationless electric current (supercurrent). While much attention has been dedicated to the thermodynamic version of this phenomenon (Edelstein effect), non-equilibrium transport magnetoelectric effects have not been explored yet. We propose the magnetoelectric Andreev effect (MAE) which consists in the generation of spin-polarized triplet Andreev conductance by an electric supercurrent. The MAE stems from the spin polarization of the Cooper-pair condensate due to a supercurrent-induced non-unitary triplet pairing. We propose the realization of such non-unitary pairing and MAE in superconducting proximity structures based on two-dimensional helical metals -- strongly spin-orbit-coupled electronic systems with the Dirac spectrum such as the topological surface states. Our results uncover an unexplored route towards electrically controlled superconducting spintronics and are a smoking gun for induced unconventional superconductivity in spin-orbit-coupled materials.