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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 38: Materials and Devices for Quantum Technology II

HL 38.5: Vortrag

Donnerstag, 12. März 2026, 10:30–10:45, POT/0051

Topological Superconductivity in the Presence of Contact Potentials — •Leonard Kaufhold — Institute for Theoretical Physics, Cologne, Germany

The research on Majorana bound states (MBS) has brought forth a multitude of proposed platforms and devices that are, in principle, capable of realizing such states as topological edge modes. These devices usually rely on the superconducting proximity effect induced in semiconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling or, more recently, in topological insulators. The material interface however induces another effect that can be as much as one order of magnitude larger than the electronic band gap at the surface. Due to the mismatch of work functions between the materials, a dipole layer forms at the interface, effectively creating a contact potential that modifies the electronic band structure far beyond the minimal models typically used to describe the formation of MBS. In this presentation, we will focus on different nanowire-based architectures consisting of a topological insulator in contact with an s-wave superconductor, and discuss on a theoretical level the effect of contact potentials on the formation and stability of MBS. We further outline under which parameter conditions these interface-induced effects become experimentally relevant.

Keywords: Superconductivity; Mesoscopic Systems; Majorana Physics