2012/10/15 by Teemu Ojanen
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Combinatorics #Condensed matter physics #Coupling (piping) #Josephson effect #MAJORANA #Materials science #Mathematics #Phase (matter) #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Spin–orbit interaction #Superconductivity #Supercurrent #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.87.100506
published as Phys. Rev. B 87, 100506 (2013) · 5 pages, 6 Figs
arxiv created 2012/10/15 · openalex publication_date 2013/03/18 · arxiv updated 2015/06/11 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In this Rapid Communication we show that Rashba-based topological superconductor nanowires, where the spin-orbit coupling may change its sign, support three topological phases protected by chiral symmetry. When a superconducting phase gradient is applied over the interface of the two nontrivial phases, the Andreev spectrum is qualitatively phase shifted by \ensuremathπ compared to usual Majorana weak links. The topological \ensuremathπ junction has the striking property of exhibiting a maximum supercurrent in the vicinity of vanishing phase difference. Qualitative features of the junction are robust against disorder and magnetic fields violating chiral symmetry. The studied system could be realized by local gating of the wire or by an appropriate stacking of permanent magnets in synthetic Rashba systems.