Signatures of strong induced spin-orbit interaction in Aluminum-coated Selective Area Grown DNA nanolattices

Superconductors with strong spin-orbit interaction hold promise for realizing unique quantum states, including spin triplet order parameters and non-trivial topological states, which can potentially lead to topologically protected qubits. Significant efforts have been made to achieve these exotic states, both in superconductors with intrinsic strong spin-orbit interaction and by using proximitized materials with strong spin-orbit interaction alongside conventional superconductors, or through superconductor/ferromagnet multilayers. In this work, we introduce a novel approach for engineering spin-orbit interaction in elemental metal thin films by nanotexturing and demonstrate its feasibility through experiments using silicated DNA nanolattices. Our findings reveal that nanotexturing can generate a strain gradient, which induces a flexoelectric field, leading to a substantial enhancement of spin-orbit interaction. We provide experimental evidence of induced spin-orbit interaction in superconducting aluminum thin films, fabricated through DNA-origami nanofabrication techniques. Two key signatures of the interaction between spin-orbit effects and superconductivity are reported: field-enhanced critical current and asymmetric quantum interference. These results present a fundamentally new approach to engineer spin-orbit interactions in conventional metallic superconductors.