Superconducting Proximity Effect and Majorana Fermions at the Surface of a Topological Insulator
We study the proximity effect between an s-wave superconductor and the surface states of a strong topological insulator. The resulting two-dimensional state resembles a spinless px + ipy superconductor, but does not break time reversal symmetry. This state supports Majorana bound states at vortices....
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
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ScholarlyCommons
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://repository.upenn.edu/physics_papers/99 https://repository.upenn.edu/context/physics_papers/article/1103/viewcontent/superconducting_proximity.pdf |
| Summary: | We study the proximity effect between an s-wave superconductor and the surface states of a strong topological insulator. The resulting two-dimensional state resembles a spinless px + ipy superconductor, but does not break time reversal symmetry. This state supports Majorana bound states at vortices. We show that linear junctions between superconductors mediated by the topological insulator form a nonchiral one-dimensional wire for Majorana fermions, and that circuits formed from these junctions provide a method for creating, manipulating, and fusing Majorana bound states. |
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