2012/07/12 by Graham Kells, G. Kells, Dganit Meidan +3
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Bound state #Condensed matter physics #Conductance #Energy (signal processing) #MAJORANA #Mathematics #Nanowire #Pairing #Phase (matter) #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Quantum tunnelling #Spin (aerodynamics) #Superconductivity #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topology (electrical circuits) #Zero (linguistics) #Zero-point energy #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.86.100503
published as Phys. Rev. B 86, 100503(R) (2012) · 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2012/07/12 · openalex publication_date 2012/09/12 · arxiv updated 2013/07/31 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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.