English

Progress in superconductor-semiconductor topological Josephson junctions

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2024-09-27 v1 Materials Science

Abstract

Majorana bound states (MBSs) are quasiparticles which are their own antiparticles. They are predicted to emerge as zero-energy modes localized at the boundary of a topological superconductor. No intrinsic topological superconductor is known to date. However, by interfacing conventional superconductors and semiconductors with strong spin--orbit coupling it is possible to create a system hosting topological states. Hence epitaxial superconductors and semiconductors have emerged as an attractive materials system with atomically sharp interfaces and broad flexibility in device fabrications incorporating Josephson junctions. We discuss the basics of topological superconductivity and provide insight on how to go beyond current state-of-the-art experiments. We argue that the ultimate success in realizing MBS physics requires the observation of non-Abelian braiding and fusion experiments.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2408.12749,
  title  = {Progress in superconductor-semiconductor topological Josephson junctions},
  author = {William F. Schiela and Peng Yu and Javad Shabani},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.12749},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T18:21:31.503Z