Superconducting quantum spin Hall systems with giant orbital g factors

Abstract

Topological aspects of superconductivity in quantum spin Hall systems (QSHSs) such as thin layers of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) or two-dimensional TIs are the focus of current research. Here, we describe a superconducting quantum spin Hall effect (quantum spin Hall system in proximity to an s-wave superconductor and in orbital in-plane magnetic fields), which is protected against elastic backscattering by combined time-reversal and particle-hole symmetry. This effect is characterized by spin-polarized edge states, which can be manipulated in weak magnetic fields due to a giant effective orbital g factor, allowing the generation of spin currents. The phenomenon provides a solution to the outstanding challenge of detecting the spin polarization of the edge states. Here we propose the detection of the edge polarization in a three-terminal junction using unusual transport properties of the superconducting quantum Hall effect: a nonmonotonic excess current and a zero-bias conductance peak splitting.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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