Magnetoelectric effects in superconducting nanowires with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

Recent experiments in semiconductor nanowires with a spin-orbit coupling and proximity-induced superconductivity exhibit signatures of Majorana bound states predicted to exist in the topological phase. In this work we predict that these nanowire systems exhibit unconventional magnetoelectric effects showing a sharp crossover behavior at the topological phase transition. We find that magnetic fields with a component parallel to the spin-orbit field can give rise to currents in equilibrium. Surprisingly, also fields perpendicular to the spin-orbit field may induce currents and can be employed in adiabatic charge pumping. The perpendicular field magnetoelectric effect may be regarded as a manifestation of the anomalous Hall effect in one dimension. We discuss how the predicted phenomena could be observed in experiments and employed in probing the topological phase transition.

4+2 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Colloquium: Topological Band Theory
• Theory of the supercurrent diode effect in Rashba superconductors with arbitrary disorder
• Currents induced by magnetic impurities in superconductors with spin-orbit coupling
• Generation of a superconducting vortex via Néel skyrmions
• Classification of engineered topological superconductors
• Superconducting diode effect in quasi-one-dimensional systems
• Superconducting diode effect in diffusive superconductors and Josephson junctions with Rashba spin-orbit coupling
• Functional Approach to Electrodynamics of Media
• Magnetic field effects on a nanowire with inhomogeneous Rashba spin-orbit coupling: Spin properties at equilibrium
• Quantized spin pumping in topological ferromagnetic-superconducting nanowires
• Optimizing one dimensional superconducting diodes: Interplay of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and magnetic fields
• Interplay between superconductivity and spin-dependent fields in nanowire-based systems
• All-electrical spectroscopy of topological phases in semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures
• Correspondence between bulk equilibrium spin-currents and edge spin accumulation in wires with spin-orbit coupling
• Electrically controllable exchange bias via interface magnetoelectric effect
• Magnetic exchange interaction in spin-valve with chiral spin-triplet superconductor
• Coherent charge and spin oscillations induced by local quenches in nanowires with spin-orbit coupling
• Majorana Braiding Racetracks from Charge Chern Insulator - Superconductor Hybrids
• Non uniform superconductivity in wires with strong spin-orbit coupling