• Letter

Three-phase Majorana zero modes at tiny magnetic fields

Omri Lesser, Karsten Flensberg, Felix von Oppen, and Yuval Oreg
Phys. Rev. B 103, L121116 – Published 26 March 2021
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Abstract

Proposals for realizing Majorana fermions in condensed-matter systems typically rely on magnetic fields, which degrade the proximitizing superconductor and plague the Majoranas' detection. We propose an alternative scheme to realize Majoranas based only on phase-biased superconductors. The phases (at least three of them) can be biased by a tiny magnetic field threading macroscopic superconducting loops, focusing and enhancing the effect of the magnetic field onto the junction, or by supercurrents. We show how a combination of the superconducting phase winding and the spin-orbit phase induced in closed loops (Aharonov-Casher effect) facilitates a topological superconducting state with Majorana end states. We demonstrate this scheme with an analytically tractable model as well as simulations of realistic setups comprising only conventional materials.

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  • Received 15 December 2020
  • Revised 2 February 2021
  • Accepted 11 March 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.103.L121116

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Omri Lesser1,*, Karsten Flensberg2, Felix von Oppen3, and Yuval Oreg1

  • 1Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
  • 2Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 3Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

  • *omri.lesser@weizmann.ac.il

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 12 — 15 March 2021

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