Spin-momentum locking in a semiconductor device with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is thought to be an important prerequisite for the formation of Majorana bound states. Such a helical state is predicted in one-dimensional (1D) nanowires subject to strong Rashba SOC and spin-mixing - its hallmark being a characteristic re-entrant behaviour in the conductance. Here, we report direct experimental observations of the re-entrant conductance feature, which reveals the formation of a helical liquid, in the lowest 1D subband of an InAs nanowire. Surprisingly, the feature is very prominent also in the absence of magnetic fields. This behaviour suggests that exchange interactions have a substantial impact on transport in our device. We attribute the opening of the pseudogap to spin-flipping two-particle backscattering. The all-electric origin of the ideal helical transport could have important implications for topological quantum computing.@en

In order to investigate the influence of film growth conditions on the transport properties of step-edge junctions, YBa2Cu3O7-δ films were deposited on high-quality substrate steps by DC-sputtering at two different substrate temperatures and by off-axis laser ablation. RSJ-like junction properties and a low (1σ)-spread of the critical current density Jc (4.2 K) of 17% along one step were obtained for laserablated junctions. The transport properties of the differently prepared junctions correlated with the microstructure of the step region. This, in turn, might result from the large differences in surface diffusion during film growth.@en