Directional electron-filtering at a superconductor-semiconductor interface

Abstract

We evaluate the microscopically relevant parameters for electrical transport of hybrid superconductor-semiconductor interfaces. In contrast to the commonly used geometrically constricted metallic systems, we focus on materials with dissimilar electronic properties like low-carrier density semiconductors combined with superconductors, without imposing geometric confinement. We find an intrinsic mode-selectivity, a directional momentum-filter, due to the differences in electronic band-structure, which creates a separation of electron reservoirs each at the opposite sides of the semiconductor, while at the same time selecting modes propagating almost perpendicular to the interface. The electronic separation coexists with a transport current dominated by Andreev reflection and low elastic back-scattering, both dependent on the gate-controllable electronic properties of the semiconductor.

9 pages, 6 figures

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• Quantum Transport in Semiconductor Nanostructures
• $4\pi$-periodic Josephson supercurrent in HgTe-based topological Josephson junctions
• Gapless Andreev bound states in the quantum spin Hall insulator HgTe
• Ballistic Josephson junctions in edge-contacted graphene
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• Tunneling conductance in $s$- and d-wave superconductor-graphene junctions: Extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism
• Josephson supercurrent through the topological surface states of strained bulk HgTe
• Ballistic superconductivity and tunable $\pi$-junctions in InSb quantum wells
• Creation of spin-triplet Cooper pairs in the absence of magnetic ordering
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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Inter-orbital Cooper pairing at finite energies in Rashba surface states
• Tunneling conductance in superconducting junctions with $p$-wave unconventional magnets breaking time-reversal symmetry
• Enhancement of Josephson Supercurrent in a $\pi$-Junction state by Chiral Antiferromagnetism
• Confinement-induced zero-bias peaks in conventional superconductor hybrids
• Broken time-reversal symmetry detected by tunneling spectroscopy of superconducting Pd-doped CaAgP
• Super-resonant transport of topological surface states subjected to in-plane magnetic fields