English

Signatures of tunable Majorana-fermion edge states

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2014-02-19 v2

Abstract

Chiral Majorana-fermion modes are shown to emerge as edge excitations in a superconductor--topological-insulator hybrid structure that is subject to a magnetic field. The velocity of this mode is tunable by changing the magnetic-field magnitude and/or the superconductor's chemical potential. We discuss how quantum-transport measurements can yield experimental signatures of these modes. A normal lead coupled to the Majorana-fermion edge state through electron tunneling induces resonant Andreev reflections from the lead to the grounded superconductor, resulting in a distinctive pattern of differential-conductance peaks.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1401.1636,
  title  = {Signatures of tunable Majorana-fermion edge states},
  author = {Rakesh P. Tiwari and U. Zülicke and C. Bruder},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1401.1636},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

(13 pages, Accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics, an extension of and expansion on our previous work arXiv:1210.4057). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1210.4057