Experimental phase diagram of zero-bias conductance peaks in superconductor/semiconductor nanowire devices

Sci Adv. 2017 Sep 8;3(9):e1701476. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1701476. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Topological superconductivity is an exotic state of matter characterized by spinless p-wave Cooper pairing of electrons and by Majorana zero modes at the edges. The first signature of topological superconductivity is a robust zero-bias peak in tunneling conductance. We perform tunneling experiments on semiconductor nanowires (InSb) coupled to superconductors (NbTiN) and establish the zero-bias peak phase in the space of gate voltage and external magnetic field. Our findings are consistent with calculations for a finite-length topological nanowire and provide means for Majorana manipulation as required for braiding and topological quantum bits.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.