IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-44708-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tracking a spin-polarized superconducting bound state across a quantum phase transition

Author

Listed:
  • Sujoy Karan

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

  • Haonan Huang

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

  • Alexander Ivanovic

    (Universität Ulm)

  • Ciprian Padurariu

    (Universität Ulm)

  • Björn Kubala

    (Universität Ulm
    German Aerospace Center (DLR))

  • Klaus Kern

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
    Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Joachim Ankerhold

    (Universität Ulm)

  • Christian R. Ast

    (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

Abstract

The magnetic exchange coupling between magnetic impurities and a superconductor induce so-called Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states which undergo a quantum phase transition (QPT) upon increasing the exchange interaction beyond a critical value. While the evolution through the QPT is readily observable, in particular if the YSR state features an electron-hole asymmetry, the concomitant change in the ground state is more difficult to identify. We use ultralow temperature scanning tunneling microscopy to demonstrate how the change in the YSR ground state across the QPT can be directly observed for a spin-1/2 impurity in a magnetic field. The excitation spectrum changes from featuring two peaks in the doublet (free spin) state to four peaks in the singlet (screened spin) ground state. We also identify a transition regime, where the YSR excitation energy is smaller than the Zeeman energy. We thus demonstrate a straightforward way for unambiguously identifying the ground state of a spin-1/2 YSR state.

Suggested Citation

  • Sujoy Karan & Haonan Huang & Alexander Ivanovic & Ciprian Padurariu & Björn Kubala & Klaus Kern & Joachim Ankerhold & Christian R. Ast, 2024. "Tracking a spin-polarized superconducting bound state across a quantum phase transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-44708-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44708-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44708-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-44708-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Damianos Chatzopoulos & Doohee Cho & Koen M. Bastiaans & Gorm O. Steffensen & Damian Bouwmeester & Alireza Akbari & Genda Gu & Jens Paaske & Brian M. Andersen & Milan P. Allan, 2021. "Spatially dispersing Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in the unconventional superconductor FeTe0.55Se0.45," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Felix Küster & Sascha Brinker & Samir Lounis & Stuart S. P. Parkin & Paolo Sessi, 2021. "Long range and highly tunable interaction between local spins coupled to a superconducting condensate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jian-Feng Ge & Koen M. Bastiaans & Damianos Chatzopoulos & Doohee Cho & Willem O. Tromp & Tjerk Benschop & Jiasen Niu & Genda Gu & Milan P. Allan, 2023. "Single-electron charge transfer into putative Majorana and trivial modes in individual vortices," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-44708-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.