Volkov-Pankratov states in topological superconductors

David J. Alspaugh; Daniel E. Sheehy; Mark O. Goerbig; Pascal Simon

doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023146

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Volkov-Pankratov states in topological superconductors

David J. Alspaugh, Daniel E. Sheehy, Mark O. Goerbig, Pascal Simon

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023146 · Physical Review Research

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Abstract

We study the in-gap states that appear at the boundaries of both one- and two-dimensional topological superconductors. While the massless Majorana quasiparticles are guaranteed to arise by the bulk-edge correspondence we find that they could be accompanied by massive Volkov-Pankratov (VP) states which are present only when the interface is sufficiently smooth. These predictions can be tested in an s-wave superconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling placed on top of a magnetic domain wall. We calculate the spin-resolved local density of states of the VP states about the band inversion generated by a magnetic domain wall and find that they are oppositely spin polarized on either side of the topological phase boundary. We also demonstrate that the spatial position energy-level spacing and spin polarization of the VP states can be modified by the introduction of in-plane electric fields.