Demonstrating topological superconductivity at high temperatures in a cuprate twisted heterostructure close to 45°

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Nicola Poccia, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 492704387

One of the major strategies towards realizing powerful quantum computers of tomorrow is to employ high-temperature superconductors as a platform for innovative high-temperature qubits. One of the stumbling stones impeding the progress is the necessity to provide long coherence times ensuring the qubit’s enhanced performance at elevated temperatures. We propose to engineer a new generation of the van der Waals heterostructures comprising atomically thin Bi2Sr2Can-1CunO2n+4 (where n = 1,2,3) crystals. The intended van der Waals constituent Bi2Sr2Can-1CunO2n+4 planes are twisted with respect to each other and make the Josephson junctions. We will use the current-phase relations measurements as well as Fraunhofer patterns, the Shapiro steps and the current switching probability distributions as tools for investigating the fundamental properties of the proposed Van der Waals and tuning and optimizing the involved Josephson junctions’ parameters. A central goal and an intellectual appeal of the proposed research on the fundamental side, is the discovery and demonstration of new properties of new topological superconducting phases and states induced by the Josephson coupling between the van der Waals layers. An important consequence of the expected topological superconducting states is that the coherence of Cooper pairs is also topologically protected.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Evgeni Ilichev