A general algorithm for computing bound states in infinite tight-binding systems

We propose a robust and efficient algorithm for computing bound states of infinite tight-binding systems that are made up of a finite scattering region connected to semi-infinite leads. Our method uses wave matching in close analogy to the approaches used to obtain propagating states and scattering matrices. We show that our algorithm is robust...

Electric field tunable superconductor-semiconductor coupling in Majorana nanowires

We study the effect of external electric fields on superconductor-semiconductor coupling by measuring the electron transport in InSb semiconductor nanowires coupled to an epitaxially grown Al superconductor. We find that the gate voltage induced electric fields can greatly modify the coupling strength, which has consequences for the proximity...

Signatures of Majorana Fermions in Hybrid Superconductor-Semiconductor Nanowire Devices

Majorana fermions are exotic elementary particles predicted in 1937 by Ettore Majorana. Although heavily searched for, they have never been found in nature up to date. In the past decades, with the progress in theory, theoretical physicists predicted that Majorana fermions might emerge in certain exotic classes of condensed matter systems, where...

Quantum Transport in Indium Antimonide Nanowires: Investigating building blocks for Majorana devices

Recently ideas to engineer Majorana fermions in the solid state have been developed. These Majoranas, quasiparticles that are their own antiparticle, have received much attention, as they are expected to fulfill non-Abelian exchange statistics and could potentially function as fault-tolerant quantum bits. This thesis focuses on a Majorana host...

Adiabatic quantum pumping via Dirac fermions

The best people leave to go abroad; interview

The last six months have been rather crazy for Professor Leo van Kouwenhoven (Applied Sciences). Ever since he first reported in late February that he had detected something that resembled the Majorana fermion, an elementary particle that was first predicted in 1937, his telephone has not stopped ringing.