Photoinduced valley-dependent equal-spin Andreev reflection in Ising superconductor junction

The Ising spin–orbit coupling could give rise to the spin-triplet Cooper pairs and equal-spin Andreev reflection(AR)in Ising superconductors.Here we theoretically study the valley-dependent equal-spin AR in a ferromagnet/Ising superconductor junction with a circularly polarized light applied to the ferromagnet.Because of the spin-triplet Cooper pairs and the optical irradiation,eight kinds of AR processes appear in the junction,including equal-spin AR and normal AR,the strengths and properties of which strongly depend on the valley degree of freedom.The AR probabilities for the incident electron from the two valleys exhibit certain symmetry with respect to the magnetization angle and the effective energy of light.The equal-spin AR and normal AR present different features and resonant behaviors near the superconducting gap edges.Due to equal-spin-triplet Cooper pairs,not only charge supercurrent but also spin supercurrent can transport in the Ising superconductors.The differential spin conductance for electron injecting from the two valleys can be controlled by the circularly polarized light.

A Novel Method of Nanocontact Fabrication for Andreev Reflection Measurement

A new method of nanocontact fabrication for Adreev reflection measurement based on the nanopore method using a SiN membrane with focused ion beam technique is presented. With this method, controllable, clean,tensionless nano-contacts for spin polarization probing can be obtained. Measurements of the fabricated samples show complicated spectral structures with a zero bias anomaly and dip structures from quasipartical interactions. A control sample of Co40Fe40B20 is measured with Nb tip method. None of the measured spectra can be explained satisfactorily by present theory. Further analysis of the contact interface and a more complete theory are needed to extract a reliable spin polarization message with the point contact Andreev reflection method.

Doping Induced Gap Anisotropy in Iron-Based Superconductors:a Point-Contact Andreev Reflection Study of BaFe2-xNixAs2 Single Crystals

We report a systematic investigation on c-axis point-contact Andreev reflection （PCAR） in BaFe2-xNixAs2 superconducting single crystals from underdoped to overdoped regions （0.075≤ x ≤0.15）. At low temperatures, an in-gap sharp peak at low-bias voltage is observed in PCAR for overdoped samples, in contrast to the case of underdoped junctions, in which an in-gap plateau is observed. The variety of the conductance spectra with doping can be well described by using a generalized Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism with an angle-dependent gap. This gap shows a clear crossover from a nodeless in the underdoped side to a nodal feature in the overdoped region. This result provides evidence of the doping-induced evolution of the superconducting order parameter when the inter-pocket and intra-pocket scattering are tuned through doping, as expected in the s± scenario.

A pure spin-current injector of semiconductor quantum dots with Andreev reflection and Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We propose a four-terminal device consisting of two parallel quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbit interaction （RSOI）, coupled to two side superconductor leads and two common ferromagnetic leads, respectively. The two ferromagnetic leads and two quantum dots form a ring threaded by Aharonov-Bohm （AB） flux. This device possesses normal quasiparticle transmission between the two ferromagnetic leads, and normal and crossed Andreev reflections providing conductive holes. For the appropriate spin polarization of the ferromagnetic leads, RSOI and AB flux, the pure spin-up （or spin-down） current without net charge current in the right lead, which is due to the equal numbers of electrons and holes with the same spin-polarization moving along the same direction, can be obtained by adjusting the gate voltage, which may be used in practice as a pure spin-current injector.

Distinction between critical current effects and intrinsic anomalies in the point-contact Andreev reflection spectra of unconventional superconductors

In this work,we discuss the origin of several anomalies present in the point-contact Andreev reflection spectra of（Li1-xFex）OHFeSe,LiTi2O4,and La2-xCexCuO4.While these features are similar to those stemming from intrinsic superconducting properties,such as Andreev reflection,electron-boson coupling,multigap superconductivity,d-wave and p-wave pairing symmetry,they cannot be accounted for by the modified Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk（BTK） model,but require to consider critical current effects arising from the junction geometry.Our results point to the importance of tracking the evolution of the dips and peaks in the differential conductance as a function of the bias voltage,in order to correctly deduce the properties of the superconducting state.

Resonant Andreev reflection in a normal-metal/quantum-dot/superconductor system with coupled Majorana bound states

Andreev reflection （AR） in a normal-metal/quantum-dot/superconductor （N-QD-S） system with coupled Majorana bound states （MBSs） is investigated theoretically. We find that in the N--QD-S system, the AR can be enhanced when coupling to the MBSs is incorporated. Fano line-shapes can be observed in the AR conductance spectrum when there is an appropriate QD-MBS coupling or MBS-MBS coupling. The AR conductance is always e2/2h at the zero Fermi energy point when only QD--MBSs coupling is considered. In addition, the resonant AR occurs when the MBS-MBS coupling roughly equals to the QD energy level. We also find that an AR antiresonance appears when the QD energy level approximately equals to the sum of the QD-MBS coupling and the MBS-MBS coupling. These features may serve as characteristic signatures for the probe of MBSs.

Nonlocal Andreev reflection with Rashba spin-orbital interaction in a triple-quantum-dot ring

We theoretically studied the nonlocal Andreev reflection with Rashba spin-orbital interaction in a triple-quantumdot （QD） ring, which is introduced as Rashba spin-orbital interaction to act locally on one component quantum dot. It is found that the electronic current and spin current are sensitive to the systematic parameters. The interdot spin-flip term does not play a leading role in causing electronic and spin currents. Otherwise the spin precessing terra leads to shift of the peaks of the the spin-up and spin-down electronic currents in different directions and results in the spin current. Moreover, the spin-orbital interaction suppresses the nonlocal Andreev reflection, so we cannot obtain the pure spin current.

Nonlocal Andreev reflection and spin current in a three-terminal Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

This paper theoretically reports the nonlocal Andreev reflection and spin current in a normal metal-ferromagnetic metal-superconducting Aharonov-Bohm interferometer. It is found that the electronic current and spin current are sensitive to systematic parameters, such as the gate voltage of quantum dots and the external magnetic flux. The electronic current in the normal metal lead results from two competing processes： quasiparticle transmission and nonlocal Andreev reflection. The appearance of zero spin-up electronic current （or spin-down electronic current） signals the existence of nonlocal Andreev reflection, and the presence of zero electronic current results in the appearance of pure spin current.

Strain-modulated anisotropic Andreev reflection in a graphene-based superconducting junction

We investigate the Andreev reflection across a uniaxial strained graphene-based superconducting junction.Compared with pristine graphene-based superconducting junction,three opposite properties are found.Firstly,in the regime of the interband conversion of electron–hole,the Andreev retro-reflection happens.Secondly,in the regime of the intraband conversion of electron–hole,the specular Andreev reflection happens.Thirdly,the perfect Andreev reflection,electron–hole conversion with unit efficiency,happens at a nonzero incident angle of electron.These three exotic properties arise from the strain-induced anisotropic band structure of graphene,which breaks up the original relation between the direction of velocity of particle and the direction of the corresponding wavevector.Our finding gives an insight into the understanding of Andreev reflection and provides an alternative method to modulate the Andreev reflection.

Andreev Reflection of Pseudo-Correlated Pairs Electrons in the System ＂Superconductor-Fluctuation Superconductor-Superconductor＂

In the article, the Josephson system ＂Superconductor-Fluctuation Superconductor-Superconductor＂, consisting of a combination of superconductors with a fluctuation superconductor was considered. The possibility of transformation of the superconducting （Cooper） pairs in psevdocorrelated （fluctuation） of a pair of electrons is shown, and vice versa, the fluctuation pairs in the Cooper pairs in such a Josephson system. The characteristic features of the Andreev reflection of the weakly bound electron, which is part of the fluctuation pairs in the interface ＂fluctuation superconductor-superconductor＂ with a probability of forming a pair of ＂Electron-Hole＂ and the generation of psevdocorrelated pair discussed. The probability of formation of two correlated superconducting electron pairs, forming original cluster with a charge 4e, in the interface ＂Fluctuation Superconductor-Superconductor＂ as a result of transmutation of the reflected hole into an electron or subjection Andreev reflection of both electrons of fluctuation pairs is viewed. The above processes may be useful for better understanding the fluctuation effects in superconducting materials which appear at temperatures above the critical value.

Anomalous Andreev reflection on a torus-shaped Fermi surface

Andreev reflection(AR)refers to the electron-hole conversion at the normal metal-superconductor interface.In a threedimensional metal with a spherical Fermi surface,retro(specular)AR can occur with the sign reversal of all three(a single)components of particle velocity.Here,we predict a novel type of AR with the inversion of two velocity components,dubbed"anomalous Andreev reflection"(AAR),which can be realized in a class of materials with a torus-shaped Fermi surface,such as doped nodal line semimetals.For its toroidal circle perpendicular to the interface,the Fermi torus doubles the AR channels and generates multiple AR processes.In particular,the AAR and retro AR are found to dominate electron transport in the light and heavy doping regimes,respectively.We show that the AAR visibly manifests itself as a ridge structure in the spatially resolved nonlocal conductance,in contrast to the peak structure for the retro AR.Our work opens a new avenue for the AR spectroscopy and offers a clear transport signature of the torus-shaped Fermi surface.

Andreev reflection and tunneling spectrum on metal-superconductor-metal junctions

The tunneling spectrum of an electron and a hole in metal superconductor-metal junctions is com- puted using the Blonder-Tinkham Klapwijk method. The incident and the outgoing currents finally balance each other by an interface charge inside the superconductor and metal junction. The present computation shows a more abundant structure compared to that on a metal superconductor junc- tion, such as the resonance at bias voltages above the energy gap of the superconductor. The density of the interface charge shows a quantum-like oscillation.

Spin transport properties in ferromagnet/superconductor junctions on topological insulator

The spin-dependent Andreev reflection is investigated theoretically by analyzing the electronic transport in a thin-film topological insulator(TI)ferromagnet/superconductor(FM/SC)junction.The tunneling conductance and shot noise are calculated based on the Dirac-Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation and Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory.It is found that the magnetic gap in ferromagnet can enhance the Andreev retro-reflection but suppress the specular Andreev reflection.The gate potential applied to the electrode on top of superconductor can enhance the two types of reflections.There is a transition between the two types of reflections at which both the tunneling conductance and differential shot noise become zero.These results provide a method to realize and detect experimentally the intra-band specular Andreev reflection in thin film TI-based FM/SC structures.

Current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/s-wave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling

We have studied the characteristics of current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/swave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling. It was found that within some parameter regions the magnitude of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization density in such structures will increase（or decrease） with the decrease（or increase） of the charge current density, in contrast to that found in normal spin–orbit coupled semiconductor structures. It was also found that the unusual characteristics of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in such structures can be well explained by the effect of the Andreev reflection.

The nonlocal transport and switch effect in light-and electric-controlled silicene–superconductor hybrid structure

We theoretically investigate the influence of off-resonant circularly polarized light field and perpendicular electric field on the quantum transport in a monolayer silicene-based normal/superconducting/normal junction.Owing to the tunable band structure of silicene,a pure crossed Andreev reflection process can be realized under the optical and electrical coaction.Moreover,a switch effect among the exclusive crossed Andreev reflection,the exclusive elastic cotunneling and the exclusive Andreev reflection,where the former two are the nonlocal transports and the third one is the local transport,can be obtained in our system by the modulation of the electric and light fields.In addition,the influence of the relevant parameters on the nonlocal and local transports is calculated and analyzed as well.

Quantum transport through a multi-quantum-dot-pair chain side-coupled with Majorana bound states

We investigate the quantum transport properties through a special kind of quantum dot（QD） system composed of a serially coupled multi-QD-pair（multi-QDP） chain and side-coupled Majorana bound states（MBSs） by using the Green functions method,where the conductance can be classified into two kinds：the electron tunneling（ET） conductance and the Andreev reflection（AR） one.First we find that for the nonzero MBS-QDP coupling a sharp AR-induced zero-bias conductance peak with the height of e^2/h is present（or absent） when the MBS is coupled to the far left（or the other） QDP.Moreover,the MBS-QDP coupling can suppress the ET conductance and strengthen the AR one,and further split into two sub-peaks each of the total conductance peaks of the isolated multi-QDPs,indicating that the MBS will make obvious influences on the competition between the ET and AR processes.Then we find that the tunneling rate ΓLis able to affect the conductances of leads L and R in different ways,demonstrating that there exists a ΓL-related competition between the AR and ET processes.Finally we consider the effect of the inter-MBS coupling on the conductances of the multi-QDP chains and it is shown that the inter-MBS coupling will split the zero-bias conductance peak with the height of e^2/h into two sub-peaks.As the inter-MBS coupling becomes stronger,the two sub-peaks are pushed away from each other and simultaneously become lower,which is opposite to that of the single QDP chain where the two sub-peaks with the height of about e^2/2h become higher.Also,the decay of the conductance sub-peaks with the increase of the MBS-QDP coupling becomes slower as the number of the QDPs becomes larger.This research should be an important extension in studying the transport properties in the kind of QD systems coupled with the side MBSs,which is helpful for understanding the nature of the MBSs,as well as the MBS-related QD transport properties.

Enhancement of subgap conductance in a graphene superconductor junction by valley polarization

We theoretically study the differential conductance of a graphene/graphene superconductor junction, where the valley polarization of Dirac electrons is considered in the nonsuperconducting region. It is shown that the subgap conductance will increase monotonically with the valley-polarization strength when the chemical potential μ is near the Dirac point μ≤ 3？（？ is the superconducting gap）, whereas it will decrease monotonically when μ is far away from the Dirac point, μ≥ 5？.The former case is induced by the specular Andreev reflection while the retro-reflection accounts for the later result. Our findings may shed light on the control of conductance of a graphene superconductor junction by valley polarization.

Interplay between magnetic gap and quasiparticle lifetime in topological insulator ferromagnet/f-wave superconductor junctions

Using the modified Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk(BTK)theory,the interplay between the lifetime of quasi particles and the magnetic gap in a topological insulator-based ferromagnet/fwave superconductor(TI-based FM/f-wave SC)tunnel structure is theoretically studied.Two symmetries of f_(1) and f_(2) waves are considered for superconducting pairing states.The results indicate that reducing the finite quasi-particle lifetime will induce a transformation of energy-gap peaks into a zero-bias peak in tunneling conductance spectrum,as well as a transformation of energy-gap dips into a zero-bias dip in shot noise spectrum,ultimately resulting in the smoothing of the zero-bias conductance peak and the zero-bias shot noise dip.An increase in magnetic gap will suppress the tunnel conductance and shot noise when the conventional Andreev retroreflection dominates,but will enhance them when the specular Andreev reflection is dominant.Both specular Andreev reflection and conventional Andreev retro-reflection will be enhanced as the quasi-particle lifetime increases.When Fermi energy equals the magnetic gap,shot noise and tunneling conductance vanish across all energy ranges.These findings not only contribute to a better understanding of specular Andreev reflection in the FM/f-wave SC junction based on TIs but also provide insights for experimentally determining the f-wave pairing symmetry.

Quantum Transport through a Triple Quantum Dot System in the Presence of Majorana Bound States

We study the electron transport through a special quantum-dot(QD)structure composed of three QDs and two Majorana bound states(MBSs)using the nonequilibrium Green’s function technique.This QD-MBS ring structure includes two channels with the two coupled MBSs being Channel 1 and one QD being Channel 2,and three types of transport processes such as the electron transmission(ET),the Andreev reflection(AR),and the crossed Andreev reflection(CAR).By comparing the ET,AR,and CAR processes through Channels 1 and 2,we make a systematic study on the transport properties of the QD-MBS ring.It is shown that there appear two kinds of characteristic transport patterns for Channels 1 and 2,as well as the interplay between the two patterns.Of particular interest is that there exists an AR-assisted ET process in Channel 2,which is different from that in Channel 1.Thus a clear"X"pattern due to the ET and AR processes appears in the ET,AR,and CAR transmission coefficients.Moreover,we study how Channel 2 affects the three transport processes when Channel 1 is tuned in the ET and CAR regimes.It is shown that the transport properties of the ET,AR and CAR processes can be adjusted by tuning the energy level of the QD embedded in Channel 2.We believe this research should be a helpful reference for understanding the transport properties in the QD-MBS coupled systems.