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Chirality blockade of Andreev reflection in a magnetic Weyl semimetal

N. Bovenzi, M. Breitkreiz, P. Baireuther, T. E. O'Brien, J. Tworzydło, İ. Adagideli, and C. W. J. Beenakker
Phys. Rev. B 96, 035437 – Published 26 July 2017

Abstract

A Weyl semimetal with broken time-reversal symmetry has a minimum of two species of Weyl fermions, distinguished by their opposite chirality, in a pair of Weyl cones at opposite momenta ±K that are displaced in the direction of the magnetization. Andreev reflection at the interface between a Weyl semimetal in the normal state (N) and a superconductor (S) that pairs ±K must involve a switch of chirality, otherwise it is blocked. We show that this “chirality blockade” suppresses the superconducting proximity effect when the magnetization lies in the plane of the NS interface. A Zeeman field at the interface can provide the necessary chirality switch and activate Andreev reflection.

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  • Received 20 April 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.035437

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

N. Bovenzi1, M. Breitkreiz1, P. Baireuther1, T. E. O'Brien1, J. Tworzydło2, İ. Adagideli3, and C. W. J. Beenakker1

  • 1Instituut-Lorentz, Universiteit Leiden, P.O. Box 9506, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
  • 2Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, ul. Pasteura 5, 02–093 Warszawa, Poland
  • 3Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, Orhanli-Tuzla, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 3 — 15 July 2017

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