Andreev Bound States and Their Signatures

TL;DR

This paper introduces Andreev bound states in superconductors, explaining their formation, signatures, and significance in understanding inhomogeneous, unconventional, and topological superconducting systems, with a focus on their transport properties.

Contribution

It provides an accessible overview of Andreev scattering and bound states, highlighting their role in recent advances in superconductivity and topological quantum matter.

Findings

Andreev bound states are crucial for understanding inhomogeneous superconductors.

Signatures of Andreev states can be observed in transport measurements.

The article connects Andreev physics to topological and unconventional superconductivity.

Abstract

Many of the properties of superconductors related to quantum coherence are revealed when the superconducting state is forced to vary in space - in response to an external magnetic field, a proximity contact, an interface to a ferromagnet, or to impurities embedded in the superconductor. Among the earliest examples is Andreev reflection of an electron into a retro-reflected hole at a normal-superconducting interface. In regions of strong inhomogeneity multiple Andreev reflection leads to the formation of sub-gap states, Andreev bound states, with excitation energies below the superconducting gap. These states play a central role in our understanding of inhomogeneous superconductors. The discoveries of unconventional superconductivity in many classes of materials, advances in fabrication of superconducting/ferromagnetic hybrids and nano-structures for confining superfluid $^3$He, combined with theoretical developments in topological quantum matter have dramatically expanded the significance of branch conversion scattering and Andreev bound state formation. This collection of articles highlights developments in inhomogeneous superconductivity, unconventional superconductivity and topological phases of superfluid $^3$He, in which Andreev scattering and bound states underpin much of the physics of these systems. This article provides an introduction to the basic physics of Andreev scattering, bound-state formation and their signatures. The goal is both an introduction for interested readers who are not already experts in the field, as well as to highlight several examples in which branch conversion scattering and Andreev bound states provide unique signatures in the transport properties of inhomogeneous, topological and unconventional superconductors.