2.5-dimensional topological superconductivity in twisted superconducting flakes
Multilayer flakes of two-dimensional materials were recently shown to be tunable by twisting monolayers on their surface. This raises the question whether qualitatively new phenomena can occur in such finite-thickness moiré systems. Here we demonstrate the emergence of distinct topological phases and transitions in N-layered flakes of nodal superconductors with a single monolayer twisted on top of it. We show that a c-axis current transforms the whole system into a chiral topological superconductor. Increasing the current drives a sequence of topological transitions between states characterized by a Chern number increasing from $$\sim {\mathcal{O}}(N)$$ up to $$\sim {\mathcal{O}}({N}^{2})$$ , well beyond the additive effect of stacking N layers. We predict thickness-independent signatures of these states in the thermal Hall and tunneling microscopy measurements. Twisted superconductor flakes thus provide an example of a “2.5-dimensional” material where the synergy of two-dimensional layers extended in a third dimension realize states inaccessible in either monolayer or bulk materials.
Authors
- J. H. Pixley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3109-640X)
- Kevin P. Lucht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1514-7504)
- Pavel A. Volkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7586-9788)
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- Flatiron Health (United States) (US)
- Flatiron Institute (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Quantum Materials
- Published
- 2025-01-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-024-00719-2
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.49
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Aspen Center for Physics
- Division of Materials Research
- Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara