Pinning of Andreev bound states to zero energy in two-dimensional superconductor-semiconductor Rashba heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Andreev bound states in a 2D Rashba superconductor-semiconductor heterostructure can be tuned to zero energy in the trivial phase, revealing potential implications for topological quantum computing.

Contribution

It provides analytical and numerical analysis showing zero-energy pinning of ABSs in trivial phases due to spin-orbit interaction and parameter tuning.

Findings

ABS energy can be pinned near zero in trivial phase

ABS energy decays as inverse power-law in Zeeman field

Zero-energy ABSs occur in vortex structures with strong SOI

Abstract

We consider a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) partially covered by an s-wave superconductor, where the uncovered region remains normal but is exposed to an effective Zeeman field applied perpendicular to the plane. We find analytically and numerically Andreev bound states (ABSs) formed in the normal region and show that, due to SOI and by tuning the parameters of the system deeply into the topologically trivial phase, one can reach a regime where the energy of the lowest ABS becomes pinned close to zero as a function of Zeeman field. The energy of such an ABS is shown to decay as an inverse power-law in Zeeman field. We also consider a superconductor-semiconductor heterostructure with a superconducting vortex at the center and in the presence of strong SOI, and find again ABSs that can get pinned close to zero energy in the non-topological phase.