Summary of the project

The present project aims to open new ways for designing nanostructures and nanodevices using TMD superconducting materials. The project focuses on TMD monolayers, which are effectively two-dimensional structures. They manifest intriguing properties that make them extremely appealing both for fundamental physics and applications: superconductivity, Ising spin-orbit coupling, topological phases etc.
      Our project will study and characterize the physics of Josephson junctions built from these materials. In a first geometry, we will investigate the problem of quantum transport in planar Josepshon junctions made from TMDs. An additional magnetic field is applied to the junction, leading to critical current oscillations. We aim to show how edge transport in a TMD nanorribon results in a SQUID pattern in the critical current. Deviations from the pattern will bring information about the detailed band structure of the material. In a second geometry, we will investigate stacked superconducting monolayers of TMDs. The stacking procedure creates a relative angle between the monolayer planes, which may introduce a decoupling of the superconducting order parameters between the planes. We aim to find signatures of this physics in the Josephson current flowing through such a nanostructure. These objectives may lead to devising sensible magnetometers to characterize the strength of the spin-orbit coupling in the materials, as well as the strength of coupling between layers of TMDs.
      Finally, we will investigate whether TMDs may be used as a viable platform for quantum computation with Majorana states. We will focus in particular on NbSe₂, which at low temperature manifests an interplay between superconductivity and charge density wave ordering. Majorana states may be induced through deposition of magnetic impurities (e.g. atoms or molecules) on top of the substrate. The interaction of impurities with the modulated local density of states may lead to unexpected modifications in the parameter regime where Majorana phases are possible.