Odd-parity superconductivity by competing spin-orbit coupling and orbital effect in artificial heterostructures

Abstract: We show that odd-parity superconductivity occurs in multilayer Rashba systems without requiring spin-triplet Cooper pairs. A pairing interaction in the spin-singlet channel stabilizes the odd-parity pair-density-wave (PDW) state in the magnetic field parallel to the two-dimensional conducting plane. It is shown that the layer-dependent Rashba spin-orbit coupling and the orbital effect play essential roles for the PDW state in binary and tricolor heterostructures. We demonstrate that the odd-parity PDW state is a symmetry-protected topological superconducting state characterized by the one-dimensional winding number in the symmetry class BDI. The superconductivity in the artificial heavy-fermion superlattice CeCoIn_5/YbCoIn_5 and bilayer interface SrTiO_3/LaAlO_3 is discussed.