Flux-periodic oscillations in proximitized core-shell nanowires

TL;DR

This paper investigates flux-periodic oscillations in proximitized core-shell nanowires, analyzing how geometry, spin interactions, and chemical potential influence the oscillation periodicity and energy spectrum.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of oscillation periodicity in different nanowire geometries and identifies the conditions leading to transitions between h/e and h/2e periodicity.

Findings

Transition between h/e and h/2e periodicity depends on chemical potential.

Square nanowires exhibit only h/e periodicity in the infinite spectrum.

Energy separation between excited states explains the periodicity in thin-shell square nanowires.

Abstract

Flux-periodic oscillations of the superconducting gap in proximitized core-shell nanowires are explored. Periodicity of oscillations in the energy spectrum of a cylindrical nanowire is compared with nanowires having hexagonal and square cross-section geometry, along with the effects of Zeeman and Rashba spin-orbit interaction. A transition between h/e and h/2e periodicity is found and shown to be dependent on the chemical potential, with correspondence to degeneracy points of the angular momentum quantum number. For a thin shell of a square nanowire, solely h/e periodicity is found in the infinite wire spectrum and shown to result from energy separation between the lowest groups of excited states.