Odd-Parity Topological Superconductors: Theory and Application to CuxBi2Se3

by Ms Kusum Dhochak (TIFR)

Wednesday 10 Aug 2011, 02:30 → 03:30 Asia/Kolkata

A304 (Colaba Campus)

Topological superconductors have a full pairing gap in the bulk and gapless surface Andreev bound states. In this paper, we provide a sufficient criterion for realizing time-reversal-invariant topological superconductors in centrosymmetric superconductors with odd-parity pairing. We next study the pairing symmetry of the newly discovered superconductor Cu_xBi₂Se₃ within a two-orbital model, and find that a novel spin-triplet pairing with odd parity is favored by strong spin-orbit coupling. Based on our criterion, we propose that CuxBi2Se3 is a good candidate for a topological superconductor. We close by discussing experimental signatures of this new topological phase.

Reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 097001 (2010)