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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 89: Focus Session: Evolution of Topological Materials into Superconducting Nanodevices (joint session HL/TT)

TT 89.3: Invited Talk

Friday, March 22, 2024, 10:30–11:00, EW 202

Thermal and electric response of superconducting topological materials; are Majorana states more widespread than expected? — •Ewelina Hankiewicz — Institute for Theoretical Physics, Uni Würzburg, Germany

In this talk, we will discuss different Josephson junctions based on semimetals, metals and topological insulators proximitized with s-wave superconductors. We show that thermal response can be more sensitive to Majorana bound states than an electrical response [1,2]. Moreover, due to the 4pi periodicity of topological Josephson junctions, the thermal engines built on them are more efficient as the ones on the classical Josephson junctions [3].

Furthermore, we predict that the s-wave superconductivity proximitized j=3/2 particles in 2D Luttinger materials are able to host Majorana bound states even in the absence of Dresselhaus and Rashba spin-orbit couplings [4]. This originates from the hybridization of the light and heavy hole bands of the j=3/2 states in combination with the superconducting pairing. We predict that Majorana bound states should be seen in many classes of materials like p-doped GaAs and bulk HgTe [4].

[1] A. G. Bauer et al. Phys. Rev. B 104, L201410 (2021). [2] R. L. Klees, D. Gresta, J. Sturm, L. W. Molenkamp, and E. M. Hankiewicz arXiv:2306.17845 (2023). [3] B. Scharf, A. Braggio, E. Strambini, F. Giazotto, E. M. Hankiewicz, Communications Physics 3, 198 (2020). [4] J.-B. Mayer, M. A. Sierra, and E. M. Hankiewicz, Phys. Rev. B 105, 224513 (2022).

Keywords: unconventional superconductivity; Majorana fermion; thermal transport; topological materials; Josephson junction