Detecting Majorana nonlocality using strongly coupled Majorana bound states

Journal Article (2016)
Author(s)

Sebastian Rubbert (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QN/Akhmerov Group)

AR Akhmerov (TU Delft - QN/Akhmerov Group, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)

Research Group
QN/Akhmerov Group
Copyright
© 2016 S.H.P. Rubbert, A.R. Akhmerov
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.115430
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2016
Language
English
Copyright
© 2016 S.H.P. Rubbert, A.R. Akhmerov
Research Group
QN/Akhmerov Group
Issue number
11
Volume number
94
Pages (from-to)
1-5
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

Majorana bound states (MBS) differ from the regular zero energy Andreev bound states in their nonlocal properties, since two MBS form a single fermion. We design strategies for detection of this nonlocality by using the phenomenon of Coulomb-mediated Majorana coupling in a setting which still retains falsifiability and does not require locally separated MBS. Focusing on the implementation of MBS based on the quantum spin Hall effect, we also design a way to probe Majoranas without the need to open a magnetic gap in the helical edge states. In the setup that we analyze, long range MBS coupling manifests in the h/e magnetic flux periodicity of tunneling conductance and supercurrent. While h/e is also the periodicity of Aharonov-Bohm effect and persistent current, we show how to ensure its Majorana origin by verifying that switching off the charging energy restores h/2e periodicity conventional for superconducting systems.

Files

PhysRevB.94.115430.pdf
(pdf | 0.304 Mb)
License info not available