Ballistic surface channels in fully in situ defined Bi$_4$Te$_3$ Josephson junctions with aluminum contacts

Abstract

In this letter we report on the electrical transport properties of Bi$_4$Te$_3$ in a Josephson junction geometry using superconducting Al electrodes with a Ti interdiffusion barrier. Bi$_4$Te$_3$ is proposed to be a dual topological insulator, for which due to time-reversal and mirror symmetry both a strong topological insulator phase as well as a crystalline topological phase co-exist. The formation of a supercurrent through the Bi$_4$Te$_3$ layer is explained by a two-step process. First, due to the close proximity of the Al/Ti electrodes a superconducting gap is induced within the Bi$_4$Te$_3$ layer right below the electrodes. The size of this gap is determined by analysing multiple Andreev reflections (MARs) identified within the devices differential resistance at low voltage biases. Second, based on the Andreev reflection and reverse Andreev reflection processes a supercurrent establishes in the weak link region in between these two proximity coupled regions. Analyses of the temperature dependency of both the critical current as well as MARs indicate mostly ballistic supercurrent contributions in between the proximitized Bi$_4$Te$_3$ regions even though the material is characterized by a semi-metallic bulk phase. The presence of these ballistic modes gives indications on the topological nature of Bi$_4$Te$_3$.