Crossed surface flat bands in three-dimensional superconducting altermagnets

Superconducting altermagnets have proven to be a promising ground for emergent phenomena, but their study has involved two-dimensional systems. In this work, we investigate three-dimensional $d$- and $g$-wave altermagnets with spin-singlet chiral $d$-wave superconductivity and show the formation of crossed surface flat bands due to the interplay between superconducting and altermagnetic symmetries. We find that these crossed flat bands are topologically protected, appear at zero energy in the surface along $z$ due to the superconducting nodal lines in the $xy$-plane, and their number of corners is determined by the crystal symmetry of altermagnets. We also show that the superconducting nodal lines give rise to Bogoliubov-Fermi surfaces, which then affect the appearance of zero-energy arcs in the surface along $x$. Moreover, we demonstrate that the crossed flat bands or surface arcs, and Bogoliubov-Fermi surfaces give rise to the coexistence of three distinct dependences of the charge conductance on the normal transparency, hence offering a solid way for their detection and paving the way for realizing higher-dimensional topological phases using altermagnets.

💡 Research Summary

In this work the authors explore the interplay between altermagnetism and unconventional superconductivity in three‑dimensional (3D) systems, a topic that has previously been limited to two‑dimensional models. They consider 3D altermagnets with d‑wave (d_xy and d_{x^2‑y^2}) and g‑wave (g_xy(x^2‑y^2)) spin‑splitting textures and couple them to a spin‑singlet chiral d‑wave superconducting order parameter Δ sin k_z