Chiral Superconductivity in Periodically Driven Altermagnet/Superconductor Heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to induce and control Floquet chiral topological superconductivity with high Chern numbers in altermagnet-superconductor heterostructures using elliptically polarized light, revealing new topological phases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to realize and tune high-Chern-number chiral topological superconductivity via periodic driving in altermagnet heterostructures.

Findings

Transition from trivial to chiral topological phase with s-wave pairing.

Access to high-Chern-number phases (up to N=4) with mixed s+d wave pairing.

Periodic driving enables dynamic control of topological superconducting states.

Abstract

The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity provides a fertile ground for engineering exotic topological phases, while dynamical control via periodic driving offers a unique avenue to access quantum states that are inaccessible in static equilibrium. Here, we propose a strategy to achieve the Floquet chiral topological superconductivity in an altermagnet-superconductor heterostructure driven by elliptically polarized light. We show that for $s$-wave pairing, the system undergoes a transition from a trivial to a chiral topological superconducting phase. More strikingly, with the introduction of mixed $s+d$-wave pairing, we find that the system can access Floquet chiral topological superconducting phases with highly tunable Chern numbers up to N=4. These exotic phases are attributed to the intertwining of altermagnetism, superconducting pairing, and the periodic driving field. Our work establishes the light-driven altermagnetic heterostructure as a versatile platform for exploring and manipulating high-Chern-number chiral topological superconductivity.