Absence of Majorana oscillations in finite-length full-shell hybrid nanowires

TL;DR

This paper shows that Majorana oscillations, used as a detection signature in nanowires, are absent in full-shell hybrid nanowires due to their physical parameters, challenging previous detection assumptions.

Contribution

It demonstrates through models that Majorana oscillations do not occur in full-shell nanowires, altering the understanding of Majorana detection methods in these systems.

Findings

Majorana oscillations are absent in full-shell nanowires across many parameters.

The absence is due to the oscillation period exceeding the flux window of odd Little-Parks lobes.

Zero-energy modes can exist without oscillations, cautioning against dismissing non-oscillating states.

Abstract

Majorana bound states (MBSs) located at the ends of a hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire are only true zero modes if their characteristic localization length is much smaller than the nanowire length, $\xi_M\ll L$. Otherwise, their wave function overlap gives rise to a finite energy splitting that shows a characteristic oscillatory pattern $\sim e^{-2L/\xi_M}\cos(k_F L)$ versus external parameters that modify the Fermi momentum $k_F$. Detecting such "Majorana oscillations", measurable through low-bias conductance, has been proposed as a strategy for Majorana detection in pristine nanowires. Here we discuss how this detection scheme does not work in full-shell hybrid nanowires, an alternative design to partial-shell nanowires in which a superconductor shell fully wraps the semiconductor core. Using microscopic models, we provide both numerical simulations for Al/InAs hybrids as well as analytical approximations in terms of general nanowire parameters. We find that Majorana oscillations with flux in full-shell nanowires are absent in a wide portion of parameter space. This absence is not a signature of non-overlapping left- and right-end MBSs, but a consequence of the Majorana oscillation period being systematically larger than the flux window of odd Little-Parks lobes where Majorana zero-energy peaks are predicted to appear. Our results demonstrate that split near-zero modes or individual zero-energy crossings should not be dismissed as trivial even if they are found not to oscillate with flux.