Microscopic Fingerprint of Chiral Superconductivity

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Authors: Xuefeng Wu, Xuan Hao, Zhuo Chen, Yuchang Cai, Minghao Wu, Congrun Chen, Kedong Wang, Fangfei Ming, Steven Johnston, Rui-Xing Zhang, Hanno H. Weitering
Cited by: 1
References: 51

Abstract

Chiral superconductors have long been theorized to break time-reversal symmetry and support exotic topological features such as Majorana modes and spontaneous edge currents, promising ingredients for quantum technologies. Although several unconventional superconductors may exhibit time-reversal symmetry breaking, clear microscopic evidence of chiral pairing has remained out of reach. In this work, we demonstrate direct real-space signatures of chiral superconductivity in a single atomic layer of tin on Si(111). Using quasiparticle interference imaging, we detected symmetry-locked nodal and antinodal points in the Bogoliubov quasiparticle wave function, tightly bound to atomic point defects in the tin lattice. These nodal features, along with their surrounding texture, form a distinct real-space pattern exhibiting a clear and exclusive hallmark of chiral superconductivity. Our findings, reinforced by analytical theory and numerical simulations, offer unambiguous evidence of chiral pairing in a two-dimensional material.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Surface and Thin Film Phenomena Topological Materials and Phenomena Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical Review X
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Volume
16
Issue
1
Publication date
15 January 2026
Language
EN