Creating a new inhomogeneous superconducting landscape using chiral disorder and moiré structures

Superconductivity is a uniquely quantum phenomenon that despite decades of research is still very hard to control.

It is heavily dependent on the density of states (DOS) around zero energy, but this DOS tunability has remained largely untapped.

This proposal aims to theoretically create and enhance superconductivity by producing large DOS peaks at zero energy using nanoscale inhomogeneity, thereby creating an entirely new, spatial and figurative, landscape for superconductivity.

A rare, not yet understood, example is twisted bilayer graphene, where small twist angles produce an inhomogeneous moiré structure hosting zero-energy DOS peaks that have recently been shown to create superconductivity.

In this project we will understand and enhance superconductivity in moiré structures in both graphene and topological insulators.

We will also realize and understand superconductivity driven by a special, yet realistic, type of disorder called chiral disorder, which generates an exceptional combination of zero-energy DOS peaks and multifractal wave functions, together providing exceptional possibilities for superconductivity driven by nanoscale inhomogeneity.

To succeed with this project, we will use and further develop our own state-of-the-art numerical tools to self-consistently study superconductivity at the atomistic level in very large inhomogeneous systems. Taken together, this project will create an entirely new, inhomogeneous, landscape for superconductivity.