Topological superconducting state of lead nanowires in an external magnetic field
Superconductors with an odd number of bands crossing the Fermi energy have topologically protected Andreev states at interfaces, including Majorana states in one-dimensional geometries. We propose here that repeated indentation of a Pb tip on a Pb substrate can lead to nanowires such that the result...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2012 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid |
| Repositorio: | Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/671243 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10486/671243 https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.237003 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Andreev state Applied magnetic fields Critical fields External magnetic field Large spin Lead nanowires Majorana Multiple andreev reflections One-dimensional geometry Superconducting state Topological properties Zeeman energies Física |
| Resumo: | Superconductors with an odd number of bands crossing the Fermi energy have topologically protected Andreev states at interfaces, including Majorana states in one-dimensional geometries. We propose here that repeated indentation of a Pb tip on a Pb substrate can lead to nanowires such that the resulting superconducting system has novel topological properties. We have analyzed a number of conductance curves obtained in different nanowires, and observe, in a few cases, very peculiar dependence of the critical current on magnetic field. In these cases, the form of multiple Andreev reflections observed at finite voltages are compatible with topological superconductivity. The nanowires give a low number of 1D channels, large spin orbit coupling, and a sizable Zeeman energy, provided that the applied magnetic field is higher than the Pb bulk critical field |
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