Chiral Majorana edge states in HgTe quantum wells

Abstract

HgTe-based quantum wells (QWs) recently attracted a lot of attention for the realization of a two-dimensional topological insulator with protected helical edge states. Another class of topological systems are topological superconductors (TSCs) with Majorana edge states. In this paper, we show how proximity induced s-wave superconductivity in the bulk of HgTe-QWs and in the presence of a Zeeman field can exhibit a TSC with chiral Majorana edge states. We calculate the topological invariants and the corresponding Majorana edge states explicitly within a four-band model accounting for inversion symmetry breaking terms due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling and bulk inversion asymmetry present in these QWs.

18 pages, 8 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physics, "Focus on Majorana Fermions in Condensed Matter"

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Transport in two-dimensional topological materials: recent developments in experiment and theory
• Metallization of Rashba wire by superconducting layer in the strong-proximity regime
• Split Dirac cones in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells due to symmetry-enforced level anticrossing at interfaces
• Realistic picture of helical edge states in HgTe quantum wells
• Electron transport in multiterminal networks of Majorana bound states
• Indirect exchange interaction between magnetic impurities near the helical edge
• Helical edge transport in the presence of a magnetic impurity
• Helical edge transport in the presence of a magnetic impurity: the role of local anisotropy
• Indirect exchange interaction between magnetic impurities in the two-dimensional topological insulator based on CdTe/HgTe/CdTe quantum wells
• Electrostatical formation of the Majorana quasiparticles in the quantum dot--nanoring structure
• Finite frequency backscattering current noise at a helical edge
• Fraunhofer pattern in the presence of Majorana zero modes
• Chiral detection of Majorana bound states at the edge of a quantum spin Hall insulator
• Splitting of Dirac cones in HgTe quantum wells: Effects of crystallographic orientation, interface-, bulk-, and structure-inversion asymmetry
• Transport signatures of a quantum spin Hall - chiral topological superconductor junction
• Quantum spin Hall insulator in proximity with a superconductor: Transition to the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state driven by a Zeeman field
• Bulk transport through superconducting hybrid structures in HgTe quantum wells