Effects of the electrostatic environment on superlattice Majorana nanowires

Samuel D. Escribano, Alfredo Levy Yeyati, Yuval Oreg, and Elsa Prada
Phys. Rev. B 100, 045301 – Published 2 July 2019

Abstract

Finding ways of creating, measuring, and manipulating Majorana bound states (MBSs) in superconducting-semiconducting nanowires is a highly pursued goal in condensed matter physics. It was recently proposed that a periodic covering of the semiconducting nanowire with superconductor fingers would allow both gating and tuning the system into a topological phase while leaving room for a local detection of the MBS wave function. We perform a detailed, self-consistent numerical study of a three-dimensional (3D) model for a finite-length nanowire with a superconductor superlattice including the effect of the surrounding electrostatic environment, and taking into account the surface charge created at the semiconductor surface. We consider different experimental scenarios where the superlattice is on top or at the bottom of the nanowire with respect to a back gate. The analysis of the 3D electrostatic profile, the charge density, the low-energy spectrum, and the formation of MBSs reveals a rich phenomenology that depends on the nanowire parameters as well as on the superlattice dimensions and the external back-gate potential. The 3D environment turns out to be essential to correctly capture and understand the phase diagram of the system and the parameter regions where topological superconductivity is established.

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  • Received 1 May 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.045301

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Samuel D. Escribano1,3, Alfredo Levy Yeyati2,3, Yuval Oreg4, and Elsa Prada1,3,*

  • 1Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada C3, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 2Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada C5, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 3Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) and Instituto Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 4Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610 Israel

  • *Corresponding author: elsa.prada@uam.es

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 4 — 15 July 2019

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