Gate Tunable Supercurrent in Josephson Junctions Based on Bi2Te3 Topological Insulator Thin Films

TL;DR

This study demonstrates gate-tunable supercurrent in Bi2Te3 topological insulator Josephson junctions, revealing different transport regimes and providing insights for Majorana zero mode research.

Contribution

It introduces gate-controlled supercurrent modulation in Bi2Te3-based Josephson junctions and analyzes the transition between ballistic and diffusive regimes.

Findings

Supercurrent can be tuned by gating in Bi2Te3 Josephson junctions.

Ballistic behavior observed in n-type regime at higher temperatures.

Diffusive bulk modes emerge at low temperatures in n-type regime.

Abstract

We report transport measurements on Josephson junctions consisting of Bi2Te3 topological insulator (TI) thin films contacted by superconducting Nb electrodes. For a device with junction length L = 134 nm, the critical supercurrent Ic can be modulated by an electrical gate which tunes the carrier type and density of the TI film. Ic can reach a minimum when the TI is near the charge neutrality regime with the Fermi energy lying close to the Dirac point of the surface state. In the p-type regime the Josephson current can be well described by a short ballistic junction model. In the n-type regime the junction is ballistic at 0.7 K < T < 3.8 K while for T < 0.7 K the diffusive bulk modes emerge and contribute a larger Ic than the ballistic model. We attribute the lack of diffusive bulk modes in the p-type regime to the formation of p-n junctions. Our work provides new clues for search of Majorana zero mode in TI-based superconducting devices.