Coexistence of Magnetism and Superconductivity in Topologically Nontrivial Heterostructures

One of the foremost challenges in the development of quantum computing is the development of computing platforms which are "fault tolerant", in the sense that physical errors in the system do not affect the result of a computation. It has long been theorized that topological superconductors may form the basis of such a system, but the realization has proven extremely challenging. In particular, hybrid devices comprised of a high spin-orbit semiconductor with time-reversal symmetry breaking such as a magnetic topological insulator and a conventional superconductor are though to be an excellent candidate for a topological superconductor with the right properties at zero magnetic field. Here, we probe the magnetic depth profile of one such system exhibiting interfacial superconductivity in proximity to a magnetic topological insulator to verify that the target criteria are satisfied.