Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 41: Topological Semimetals

TT 41.1: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 09:30–09:45, HSZ/0103

Pushing transport to the edge: Inducing superconductivity in WTe₂ — •Marieke Altena, Guido Wiersma, Jort Verbakel, Esra van ’t Westende, Pantelis Bampoulis, Alexander Brinkman, and Chuan Li — MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands

WTe₂ is a type-II Weyl semimetal hosting higher-order topological states (HOTS) protected by crystal symmetries and characterized by quantum spin Hall-like spin-momentum locking. These states are of particular interest for quantum computing. Recent studies have reported anomalous edge-enhanced supercurrents in WTe₂-based Josephson junctions [1,2].

To reveal the topological nature and test the robustness of HOTS, we measured the electronic transport properties of thin, nanometer sized WTe₂ devices at low temperatures. Superconductivity was successfully induced into the WTe₂ flakes by using superconducting Nb-contacts. We observe a strong enhancement of the supercurrent at the edge of the WTe₂ flake by studying single junctions. Interestingly, the enhancement of the supercurrent at the edge is also observed at a step in the middle of the flake. The current-phase relation is also measured via superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID), which provides the insight to its topological properties. The topological nature of these states is studied with RF Shapiro measurements and DC SQUID measurements.
[1] Choi et al., Nat. Mater. 19, 974 (2020).
[2] Endres et al., Nano Letters 23, 4654 (2023).

Keywords: higher-order topological insulator; hinge state; WTe2; asymmetric SQUID; Josephson junction