MdM Quantum Seminar: Constrictions between topological edge channels

A hallmark of two-dimensional topological phases of matter is the presence of one-dimensional protected metallic edge channels[1]. The possibility of manipulating such channels would enable a wide range of technological proof-of-concept applications in spintronics, superconducting spintronics, and topological quantum computation [2]. However, despite intense efforts, the required degree of control over the edge states has not yet been achieved. Novel ideas are therefore necessary. Among them, a promising approach involves creating constrictions between edge states.

In this talk, I will demonstrate how such constrictions serve as a playground for intriguing physics. At the experimental level, they exhibit a not completely understood conductance anomaly [3]. Meanwhile, at the theoretical level, they could facilitate the implementation of Majorana fermions [4], parafermions [5], and superconducting diodes [6].

[1] M. Z. Hasan and C. L. Kane, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 3045 (2010).

[2] B. Weber, et al.,  J. Phys. Mater. 7, 022501  (2024).

[3] J. Strunz,  et al., Nat. Phys. 16, 83 (2020).

[4] C. Fleckenstein, et al., Phys. Rev. B 103, 125303 (2021).

[5] C. Fleckenstein, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 066801 (2019).

[6] S. Fracassi, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 124, 242601 (2024).