Superconducting four-fold Fe(Te,Se) film on six-fold magnetic MnTe via hybrid symmetry epitaxy

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful epitaxial growth of superconducting Fe(Te,Se) films on a magnetic MnTe substrate, revealing a hybrid symmetry epitaxy mode and opening new avenues for topological superconductivity in magnetic topological materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first epitaxial growth of Fe(Te,Se) on a magnetic MnTe layer and elucidates the structural and superconducting properties of this heterostructure.

Findings

Superconducting transition at around 11 K in Fe(Te,Se)/MnTe heterostructure.

Uniaxial lattice match enables hybrid symmetry epitaxy mode.

Te/Fe flux ratio is critical for superconductivity.

Abstract

Epitaxial Fe(Te,Se) thin films have been grown on various substrates but never been realized on magnetic layers. Here we report the epitaxial growth of four-fold Fe(Te,Se) film on a six-fold antiferromagnetic insulator, MnTe. The Fe(Te,Se)/MnTe heterostructure shows a clear superconducting transition at around 11 K and the critical magnetic field measurement suggests the origin of the superconductivity to be bulk-like. Structural characterizations suggest that the uniaxial lattice match between Fe(Te,Se) and MnTe allows a hybrid symmetry epitaxy mode, which was recently discovered between Fe(Te,Se) and Bi2Te3. Furthermore, Te/Fe flux ratio during deposition of the Fe(Te,Se) layer is found to be critical for its superconductivity. Now that superconducting Fe(Te,Se) can be grown on two related hexagonal platforms, Bi2Te3 and MnTe, this result opens a new possibility of combining topological superconductivity of Fe(Te,Se) with the rich physics in the intrinsic magnetic topological materials (MnTe)n(Bi2Te3)m family.