# Conductance through a helical state in an InSb nanowire

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates the emergence of a helical state in an InSb nanowire under magnetic fields, evidenced by conductance measurements, revealing strong spin-orbit interaction crucial for topological quantum computing.

## Contribution

First electrical conductance evidence of a helical state in an InSb nanowire with strong spin-orbit interaction, quantified as approximately 6.5 meV.

## Key findings

- Reentrant conductance feature towards 1e^2/h at fields >3T
- Spin-orbit energy estimated at ~6.5 meV
- Magnetic field orientation affects the conductance signature

## Abstract

The motion of an electron and its spin are generally not coupled. However in a one dimensional material with strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) a helical state may emerge at finite magnetic fields, where electrons of opposite spin will have opposite momentum. The existence of this helical state has applications for spin filtering and Cooper pair splitter devices and is an essential ingredient for realizing topologically protected quantum computing using Majorana zero modes. Here we report electrical conductance measurements of a quantum point contact (QPC) formed in an indium antimonide nanowire as a function of magnetic field. At magnetic fields exceeding 3T, the $2e^2/h$ plateau shows a reentrant conductance feature towards $1e^2/h$ which increases linearly in width with magnetic field before enveloping the $1e^2/h$ plateau. Rotating the external magnetic field either parallel or perpendicular to the spin-orbit field allows us to clearly attribute this experimental signature to SOI. We compare our observations with a model of a QPC incorporating SOI and extract a spin-orbit energy of ~6.5meV, which is significantly stronger than the SO energy obtained by other methods.