Anomalous Josephson effect induced by spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman effect in semiconductor nanowires

Tomohiro Yokoyama; Mikio Eto; Yuli V. Nazarov

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.89.195407

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Anomalous Josephson effect induced by spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman effect in semiconductor nanowires

Tomohiro Yokoyama, Mikio Eto, Yuli V. Nazarov

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.195407 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

We investigate theoretically the Josephson junction of semiconductor nanowire with strong spin-orbit (SO) interaction in the presence of magnetic field. By using a tight-binding model, the energy levels En of Andreev bound states are numerically calculated as a function of phase difference φ between two superconductors in the case of short junctions. The dc Josephson current is evaluated from the Andreev levels. In the absence of SO interaction, a 0-π transition due to the magnetic field is clearly observed. In the presence of SO interaction, the coexistence of SO interaction and Zeeman effect results in En(−φ)≠En(φ), where the anomalous Josephson current flows even at φ=0. In addition, the direction dependence of critical current is observed, in accordance with experimental results.