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Spin-Resolved Spectroscopy of the Yu-Shiba-Rusinov States of Individual Atoms

L. Cornils, A. Kamlapure, L. Zhou, S. Pradhan, A. A. Khajetoorians, J. Fransson, J. Wiebe, and R. Wiesendanger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 197002 – Published 9 November 2017
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Abstract

A magnetic atom in a superconducting host induces so-called Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) bound states inside the superconducting energy gap. By combining spin-resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy with simulations we demonstrate that the pair of peaks associated with the YSR states of an individual Fe atom coupled to an oxygen-reconstructed Ta surface gets spin polarized in an external magnetic field. As theoretically predicted, the electron and hole parts of the YSR states have opposite signs of spin polarizations which keep their spin character when crossing the Fermi level through the quantum phase transition. The simulation of a YSR state right at the Fermi level reveals zero spin polarization which can be used to distinguish such states from Majorana zero modes in chains of YSR atoms.

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  • Received 21 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.197002

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

L. Cornils1, A. Kamlapure1,†, L. Zhou1,‡, S. Pradhan2, A. A. Khajetoorians1,§, J. Fransson2, J. Wiebe1,*, and R. Wiesendanger1

  • 1Department of Physics, Hamburg University, D-20355 Hamburg, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 516, Uppsala SE-751 21, Sweden

  • *Corresponding author. jwiebe@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
  • Corresponding author. akamlapu@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
  • Present address: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany. Corresponding author. lzhou@physnet.uni-hamburg.de
  • §Present address: Institute for Molecules and Materials (IMM), Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 AJ, Netherlands.

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 19 — 10 November 2017

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