Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions

We propose a Josephson junction setup based on a topological insulator (TI) thin film to detect Majorana states that exploits the unique helical and extended nature of the TI surface state. When the magnetic flux through the junction is close to an integer number of flux quanta, Majorana states, pre...

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Main Authors: Potter, Andrew C., Fu, Liang
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88776
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-1017
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author Potter, Andrew C.
Fu, Liang
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Potter, Andrew C.
Fu, Liang
author_sort Potter, Andrew C.
collection MIT
description We propose a Josephson junction setup based on a topological insulator (TI) thin film to detect Majorana states that exploits the unique helical and extended nature of the TI surface state. When the magnetic flux through the junction is close to an integer number of flux quanta, Majorana states, present on both surfaces of the film, give rise to a narrow peak-dip structure in the current-phase relation by hybridizing at the edge of the junction. Remarkably, the maximal Majorana-state contribution to Josephson current takes a (nearly) universal value, approximately equal to the supercurrent capacity of a single quantum channel. These features provide a characteristic signature of Majorana states based entirely on supercurrent.
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spelling mit-1721.1/887762022-09-30T15:06:21Z Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions Potter, Andrew C. Fu, Liang Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Fu, Liang We propose a Josephson junction setup based on a topological insulator (TI) thin film to detect Majorana states that exploits the unique helical and extended nature of the TI surface state. When the magnetic flux through the junction is close to an integer number of flux quanta, Majorana states, present on both surfaces of the film, give rise to a narrow peak-dip structure in the current-phase relation by hybridizing at the edge of the junction. Remarkably, the maximal Majorana-state contribution to Josephson current takes a (nearly) universal value, approximately equal to the supercurrent capacity of a single quantum channel. These features provide a characteristic signature of Majorana states based entirely on supercurrent. United States. Dept. of Energy. Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (Award 022090-001) 2014-08-18T18:08:28Z 2014-08-18T18:08:28Z 2013-09 2013-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1098-0121 1550-235X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88776 Potter, Andrew C., and Liang Fu. “Anomalous Supercurrent from Majorana States in Topological Insulator Josephson Junctions.” Phys. Rev. B 88, no. 12 (September 2013). © 2013 American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-1017 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.121109 Physical Review B Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society American Physical Society
spellingShingle Potter, Andrew C.
Fu, Liang
Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title_full Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title_fullStr Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title_full_unstemmed Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title_short Anomalous supercurrent from Majorana states in topological insulator Josephson junctions
title_sort anomalous supercurrent from majorana states in topological insulator josephson junctions
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88776
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-1017
work_keys_str_mv AT potterandrewc anomaloussupercurrentfrommajoranastatesintopologicalinsulatorjosephsonjunctions
AT fuliang anomaloussupercurrentfrommajoranastatesintopologicalinsulatorjosephsonjunctions