Mapping the topological phase diagram of multiband semiconductors with supercurrents

ORAL

Abstract

We show that Josephson junctions made of multiband semiconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling carry a critical supercurrent $I_c$ that contains information about the non-trivial topology of the system. In particular, we find that the emergence and annihilation of Majorana bound states in the junction is reflected in strong even-odd effects in $I_c$ under specific conditions. This effect allows for a mapping between $I_c$ and the topological phase diagram of the junction, thus providing a dc measurement of its topology.

Authors

  • Elsa Prada

    Univ Autonoma de Madrid

  • Pablo San-Jose

    CSIC

  • Ramon Aguado

    Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, CSIC, Spain, CSIC