Interfacial coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism in NbN/Ti/MnBi2Te4 heterostructures

Journal article

Magnetic/superconducting heterostructures represent a frontier in condensed matter physics, offering pathways to realize unconventional pairing mechanisms such as topological superconductivity, spin-triplet pairing, and Majorana zero modes for fault-tolerant quantum computing. In this work, we integrate the magnetic van der Waals material MnBi₂Te₄ (MBT) with a superconducting NbN thin film, achieving ultralow-disorder interfaces through Ti buffer layer engineering. Temperature- and field-dependent critical currents, extracted from differential resistance spectra, reveal robust coupling between the MnBi₂Te₄ and the superconducting order of NbN, enabling proximity-induced superconductivity within MnBi₂Te₄. Notably, the proximity-induced critical currents remain invariant under in-plane field rotation, in contrast to the anisotropic response observed in pristine NbN. Moreover, the hysteretic behavior observed in the interfacial magnetoresistance curves confirms the proximity-induced spin polarization at the MBT interface, which is consistent with Andreev reflection results. These findings demonstrate a platform for fabricating high-quality heterointerfaces and enable targeted exploration of exotic quantum states.

Authors: Wang, Y; Dong, P; Zeng, X; Xu, C; Xiao, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Journal: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 14
• Pages: 20829-20837
• Publication date: 2026-03-31
• Acceptance date: 2026-03-22
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c23606
• EISSN: 1944-8252
• ISSN: 1944-8244
• Pmid: 41915799
• Language: English
• Keywords: proximity effect; differential resistance spectra; magnetic/superconducting heterostructures; spin polarization; high-quality heterointerfaces