Near-zero-energy end states in topologically trivial spin-orbit coupled superconducting nanowires with a smooth confinement

By G. Kells, D. Meidan, P. Brouwer. 2012

289 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A one-dimensional spin-orbit coupled nanowire with proximity-induced pairing from a nearby s-wave superconductor may be in a topological nontrivial state, in which it has a zero energy Majorana bound state at each end. We find that the topological trivial phase may have fermionic end states with an exponentially small energy, if the confinement potential at the wire's ends is smooth. The possible existence of such near-zero energy levels implies that the mere observation of a zero-bias peak in the tunneling conductance is not an exclusive signature of a topological superconducting phase even in the ideal clean single channel limit.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Condensed Matter Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8f1d708732a0db33247b1ad33a74c4750f80c7a4

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In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

1. B. Nijholt
2. A. Akhmerov
3. Michael H. Wimmer
4. A. Vuik
5. N. M. R. Peres

In Condensed Matter Physics

1. B. Nijholt
2. A. Akhmerov
3. Michael H. Wimmer
4. A. Vuik

Citations in the corpus

• Reproducing topological properties with quasi-Majorana states (2018, background): “These Andreev states can form at the wire’s end, provided the confinement potential is sufficiently smooth [15].”