MScProject:

MajoranasinInAsSb-epitaxial-Alnanowires

Background:

ThefirstdetectionofMajoranasinsemiconductornanowireshasdrawnenormousinterestsincondensedmatterphysicscommunity[1].Greateffortsandadvanceshavebeenachievedinthisfieldoverthelastfewyears,frommaterialgrowthtotransportexperimentsandtheoreticalunderstanding.However,afundamentalquestionregardingwhethercurrentexperimentalresultscanbeusedasthe“smoking-gun”evidencefortheexistenceofMajoranasstillremainscontroversial.Thisisbecauseofthefollowingtworeasons.First,manyalternativeexplanationshavebeenproposedtointerprettheMajoranaexperiments.Thesealternativesaredifficulttoberuledoutbasedoncurrentexperimentalresults.Second,manyimportant(orevenunique)behaviourspredictedfromthebasicMajoranatheoryhavenotbeenobservedinexperimentsyet.Therefore,ourgoalistofullyestablishMajoranasbyrulingoutalternatives,andmoreimportantly,byobservingthepredictedMajoranabehaviours(e.g.quantizedconductance,oscillationsandcorrelations).

TheProject:

OneimportantwaytoimprovethecurrentMajoranaexperimentistosearchforbettersemiconductornanowiresystemswithlargerspin-orbitcouplingandlargerLandé𝑔-factor.ComparedtoourcurrentInSbnanowires,InAsSbnanowiresarepredictedtohaveaspin-orbitcouplingthatisanorderofmagnitudestronger,anda𝑔-factorthatis4timeslarger[2].InthisprojectyouwillfocusonconductingbetterandmoreconvincingMajoranaexperimentsinInAsSb-baseddevices.

Whattheprojectoffers:

• Techniquetrainingofnano-fabrication,cryogenics,andlownoiseelectronicmeasurement.• Working,studyinganddiscussingthecutting-edgeMajoranaresearch.

Whatwearelookingfor:

Highlymotivatedmasterstudentwhohasgoodteamcollaboration.

Formoreinformationaboutthisproject,pleasefeelfreetocontact:DiXu(D.Xu-1@tudelft.nl)andHaoZhang(H.Zhang-3@tudelft.nl)

References:

[1]V.Mouriketal.Science336,1003(2012)[2]G.Winkleretal.Phys.Rev.Lett.117,076403(2016)