Interface-induced superconductivity in magnetic topological insulators. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38330133/)

These scientists wanted to understand what happens when two different materials come together. They used a special method called molecular beam epitaxy to make a special structure called a heterostructure. This structure was made by stacking two magnetic materials on top of each other. One material was called a ferromagnetic topological insulator and the other was called an antiferromagnetic iron chalcogenide.

When the scientists looked at this structure, they found something really interesting. They saw that a new kind of electricity called superconductivity appeared at the interface, where the two materials met. Superconductivity is when electricity can flow without any resistance, like a super-fast train on a track.

What was even more surprising is that the ferromagnetic topological insulator also had a special property called ferromagnetism, which means it acts like a magnet. And usually, superconductivity and ferromagnetism don't like to be together. But in this case, they were able to exist at the same time.

This discovery is really important because it can help us learn more about a special kind of superconductivity called chiral topological superconductivity. It also helps us understand something called Majorana physics. The scientists think that these special structures they made can be used to study these things on a large scale, like a big piece of wafer.

Yi H., Zhao YF., Chan YT., Cai J., Mei R., Wu X., Yan ZJ., Zhou LJ., Zhang R., Wang Z., Paolini S., Xiao R., Wang K., Richardella AR., Singleton J., Winter LE., Prokscha T., Salman Z., Suter A., Balakrishnan PP., Grutter AJ., Chan MHW., Samarth N., Xu X., Wu W., Liu CX., Chang CZ. Interface-induced superconductivity in magnetic topological insulators. Science. 2024 Feb 9;383(6683):634-639. doi: 10.1126/science.adk1270. Epub 2024 Feb 8.