Topological interlayer superconductivity in a van der Waals heterostructure

We show that when a honeycomb antiferromagnetic insulator (AFMI) is sandwiched between two transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers, magnons in the AFMI can mediate an interaction between electrons in the TMDs that gives rise to interlayer Cooper pairing. This interaction opens coexisting extended s-wave and chiral p-wave superconducting gaps in the energy spectrum of the coupled system. The latter gives rise to topological Majorana edge modes. The mechanism we propose therefore provides a path to realize an intriguing type of topological interlayer pairing in a class of van der Waals heterostructures.