Rashba induced Kondo screening of a magnetic impurity in two-dimensional superconductor

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Rashba spin-orbit coupling influences Kondo screening of a magnetic impurity in a 2D superconductor, revealing a new screening channel and the impact on quantum phase transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Kondo screening mechanism induced by Rashba SOC and analyzes its effects on the quantum phase transition in 2D superconductors.

Findings

Rashba SOC creates a new Kondo screening channel.

The Kondo temperature depends on Rashba SOC and superconducting gap.

Rashba SOC significantly affects the quantum phase transition.

Abstract

We study the Kondo screening of a magnetic impurity in a two-dimensional superconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC). It is found that the Rashba interaction generates a novel Kondo screening channel, in which the local moment is screened by the exchange coupling with conduction electrons in different spin and orbital states. The Kondo temperature associated with this process is determined by the interplay between the Rashba SOC and superconducting energy gap. As a result, the quantum phase transition between the magnetic doublet and Kondo singlet ground states is significantly affected by increasing Rashba SOC in such a system. This result uncovers that the Rashba SOC plays an instructive role and provides a novel screening channel for the Kondo effect, which is expected to be observed in future experiments.