Andreev reflection is a smart tool to investigate the spin polarisation P of the current through point contacts between a superconductor and a ferromagnet. We compare different models to extract P from experimental data and investigate the dependence of P on different contact parameters.
We study theoretically a junction of a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric non-Hermitian superconductor (PTS) placed between two conventional superconductors. We show that due to non-Hermitian electron-electron interaction in the PTS region and the combination of symmetries, only discrete values of phases of the conventional superconductors yield solutions for Andreev bound states. Remarkably, in the case of $0$ and $π$, we obtain growing and decaying in time Andreev bound states. For $π/2$ and $3π/2$, there is a Majorana zero mode penetrating through the junction in only one direction forming a quasipar…
We theoretically describe a thermoelectric effect that is entirely due to Andreev processes involving the formation of Cooper pairs through the coupling of electrons and holes. The Andreev thermoelectric effect can occur in ballistic ferromagnet-superconductor junctions with a dominant superconducting proximity effect on the ferromagnet, and it is very sensitive to surface states emerging in unconventional superconductors. We consider hybrid junctions in two and three dimensions to demonstrate that the thermoelectric current is always reversed in the presence of low-energy Andreev bound states…
We study the transport properties of a voltage biased contact between two spin-split superconductors separated by an insulating barrier of arbitrary transparency. At low transparency, the contribution of multiple Andreev reflections leads to a subharmonic gap structure that crucially depends on the amplitude and relative angle of the spin-splitting fields of each superconductor. For non-collinear fields, we find an interesting even-odd effect on the bound states within the gap, where the odd order multiple Andreev reflections split, but the even order ones remain at their expected positions. B…
We theoretically demonstrate that a ferromagnetic/superconductor junction on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators (3D TIs) has an anisotropic angle-dependent Andreev reflection when the in-plane magnetization has a component perpendicular to the junction. In the presence of in-plane magnetization, the Dirac cone's location adjusts in the $k$-space, whereas its out-of-plane component induces a gap. This movement leads to the anisotropic angle-dependent Andreev reflection and creates transverse conductance flows parallel to the interface. Also, an indirect gap induces in the j…
We report the study of ballistic transport in normal metal/graphene/superconductor junctions in edge-contact geometry. While in the normal state, we have observed Fabry-Pérot resonances suggesting that charge carriers travel ballistically, the superconducting state shows that the Andreev reflection at the graphene/superconductor interface is affected by these interferences. Our experimental results in the superconducting state have been analyzed and explained with a modified Octavio-Tinkham-Blonder-Klapwijk model taking into account the magnetic pair-breaking effects and the two different inte…
Fundamental symmetry breaking and relativistic spin-orbit coupling give rise to fascinating phenomena in quantum materials. Of particular interest are the interfaces between ferromagnets and common s-wave superconductors, where the emergent spin-orbit fields support elusive spin-triplet superconductivity, crucial for superconducting spintronics and topologically-protected Majorana bound states. Here, we report the observation of large magnetoresistances at the interface between a quasi-two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet Fe0.29TaS2 and a conventional s-wave superconductor NbN, which prov…
Using the tight binding model and the non-equilibrium Green function method, we study Andreev reflection in graphene-superconductor junction, where graphene has two nonequal Dirac Cones split in energy and therefore time reversal symmetry is broken. Due to the anti-chiral edge states of the current graphene model, an incident electron travelling along the edges makes distinct contribution to Andreev reflections. In a two-terminal device, because Andreev retro-reflection is not allowed for just the anti-chiral edges, in this case the mutual scattering between edge and bulk states is necessary, …
We study the Andreev levels, supercurrent and tunnelling conductance in a clean Ising superconductor (ISC)/half metal (HM)/Ising superconductor (ISC) Josephson junction with spin-active interfaces using Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. We theoretically demonstrate the effect of spin mixing, spin flipping processes and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of the ISC on Andreev Bound States (ABS) spectra, current phase relation (CPR) and tunnelling conductance in transparent and opaque barrier limit. We witness an additional splitting of the Andreev levels due to SOC of the ISC and $0 - π$ transition for di…
Motivated by recent experiments on low-carrier-density superconductors, including twisted multilayer graphene, we study signatures of the BCS to BEC evolution in Andreev reflection spectroscopy. We establish that in a standard quantum point contact geometry, Andreev reflection in a BEC superconductor is unable to mediate a zero-bias conductance beyond $e^2/h$ per lead channel. This bound is shown to result from a duality that links the sub-gap conductance of BCS and BEC superconductors. We then demonstrate that sharp signatures of BEC superconductivity, including perfect Andreev reflection, ca…