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Spin and charge signatures of topological superconductivity in Rashba nanowires

  • Paweł Szumniak
  • , Denis Chevallier
  • , Daniel Loss
  • , Jelena Klinovaja

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

We consider a Rashba nanowire with a proximity gap which can be brought into the topological phase by tuning external magnetic field or chemical potential. We study spin and charge of the bulk quasiparticle states when passing through the topological transition for open and closed systems. We show, analytically and numerically, that the spin of bulk states around the topological gap reverses its sign when crossing the transition due to band inversion, independent of the presence of Majorana fermions in the system. This spin reversal can be considered as a bulk signature of topological superconductivity that can be accessed experimentally. We find a similar behavior for the charge of the bulk quasiparticle states, also exhibiting a sign reversal at the transition. We show that these signatures are robust against random static disorder.

Original languageEnglish
Article number041401
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume96
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Jul 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Physical Society.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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