Mitigating disorder-induced zero-energy states in weakly coupled superconductor-semiconductor hybrid systems
(2023) In Physical Review B 107(18).- Abstract
Disorder has appeared as one of the main mechanisms to induce topologically trivial zero-energy states in superconductor-semiconductor systems, thereby challenging the detection of topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states. Here, we demonstrate that, for disorder in any part of the system, the formation of disorder-induced trivial zero-energy states can, to a large extent, be mitigated by keeping the coupling between the semiconductor and superconductor weak. The only exception is strong disorder in the semiconductor, where instead the strong-coupling regime is somewhat more robust against disorder. Furthermore, we find that the topological phase in this weak-coupling regime is robust against disorder, with a large and... (More)
Disorder has appeared as one of the main mechanisms to induce topologically trivial zero-energy states in superconductor-semiconductor systems, thereby challenging the detection of topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states. Here, we demonstrate that, for disorder in any part of the system, the formation of disorder-induced trivial zero-energy states can, to a large extent, be mitigated by keeping the coupling between the semiconductor and superconductor weak. The only exception is strong disorder in the semiconductor, where instead the strong-coupling regime is somewhat more robust against disorder. Furthermore, we find that the topological phase in this weak-coupling regime is robust against disorder, with a large and well-defined topological gap which is highly beneficial for topological protection. Our work shows the advantages and disadvantages of weak and strong couplings under disorder, important for designing superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures.
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- author
- Awoga, Oladunjoye A. LU ; Leijnse, Martin LU ; Black-Schaffer, Annica M. and Cayao, Jorge
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-05-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Physical Review B
- volume
- 107
- issue
- 18
- article number
- 184519
- publisher
- American Physical Society
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85161093113
- ISSN
- 2469-9950
- DOI
- 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.184519
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2023 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.
- id
- e6b9e63b-1ebc-44b8-a940-f36252d77135
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-24 07:05:26
- date last changed
- 2023-11-08 07:11:48
@article{e6b9e63b-1ebc-44b8-a940-f36252d77135, abstract = {{<p>Disorder has appeared as one of the main mechanisms to induce topologically trivial zero-energy states in superconductor-semiconductor systems, thereby challenging the detection of topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states. Here, we demonstrate that, for disorder in any part of the system, the formation of disorder-induced trivial zero-energy states can, to a large extent, be mitigated by keeping the coupling between the semiconductor and superconductor weak. The only exception is strong disorder in the semiconductor, where instead the strong-coupling regime is somewhat more robust against disorder. Furthermore, we find that the topological phase in this weak-coupling regime is robust against disorder, with a large and well-defined topological gap which is highly beneficial for topological protection. Our work shows the advantages and disadvantages of weak and strong couplings under disorder, important for designing superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures.</p>}}, author = {{Awoga, Oladunjoye A. and Leijnse, Martin and Black-Schaffer, Annica M. and Cayao, Jorge}}, issn = {{2469-9950}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{05}}, number = {{18}}, publisher = {{American Physical Society}}, series = {{Physical Review B}}, title = {{Mitigating disorder-induced zero-energy states in weakly coupled superconductor-semiconductor hybrid systems}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.184519}}, doi = {{10.1103/PhysRevB.107.184519}}, volume = {{107}}, year = {{2023}}, }