Superconductivity and vortex structure on Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$/FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$ heterostructures with different thickness of Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ films

TL;DR

This study uses scanning tunneling microscopy to explore how the thickness of Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ films affects superconductivity and vortex structures when grown on FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$, revealing topologically trivial and non-trivial superconducting states.

Contribution

It demonstrates the evolution of vortex core shapes and symmetry with film thickness, providing evidence for topological superconductivity in heterostructures beyond 2 QLs.

Findings

Vortex cores are star-shaped in 1-QL films, aligned with lattice symmetry.

Vortex cores elongate along crystalline axes in 3-QL films, indicating topological superconductivity.

Proximity-induced superconductivity weakens with increasing film thickness.

Abstract

Using scanning tunnel microscopy (STM), we investigate the superconductivity and vortex properties in topological insulator Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ thin films grown on the iron-based superconductor FeTe$_{0.55}$Se$_{0.45}$. The proximity-induced superconductivity weakens in the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film when the thickness of the film increases. Unlike the elongated shape of vortex cores observed in the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film with 2-quintuple-layer (QL) thickness, the isolated vortex cores exhibit a star shape with six rays in the 1-QL film, and the rays are along the crystalline axes of the film. This is consistent with the sixfold rotational symmetry of the film lattice, and the proximity-induced superconductivity is still topologically trivial in the 1-QL film. At a high magnetic field, when the direction between the two nearest neighbored vortices deviates from that of any crystalline axes, two cores connect each other by a pair of adjacent rays, forming a new type of electronic structure of vortex cores. On the 3-QL film, the vortex cores elongate along one of the crystalline axes of the Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ film, similar to the results obtained on 2-QL films. The elongated vortex cores indicate a twofold symmetry of the superconducting gap induced by topological superconductivity with odd parity. This observation confirms possible topological superconductivity in heterostructures with a thickness of more than 2 QLs. Our results provide rich information for the vortex cores and vortex-bound states on the heterostructures consisting of the topological insulator and the iron-based superconductor.