Strain Modulation Effects on the Topological Properties of a Chiral p-Wave Superconductor

TL;DR

This study investigates how strain modulation influences the electronic and topological properties of a two-dimensional chiral p-wave superconductor, revealing the emergence of supercurrents and topological domain formation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that strain modulation can induce local supercurrents and topologically distinct domains, advancing understanding of strain effects on topological superconductors.

Findings

Strain induces local spontaneous supercurrents.

Strain can create topologically distinct domains.

Spectral functions and Chern markers reveal domain formation.

Abstract

We present a study of strain modulation effects on electronic structures of a two-dimensional single-band chiral p-wave superconductor within the BCS mean-field scheme. We employ a lattice model and numerically solve the corresponding Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations. Assuming that strain modulation only modifies hopping amplitudes, we observe the emergence of local spontaneous supercurrents that are attributed to the non-trivial band topology of the system. We also report that strain modulation could induce the formation of topologically distinct domains within a single system, which is captured by spectral functions and local Chern markers.