IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar

Abstract: While signatures of Majorana bound states have been observed in one-dimensional systems, there is an ongoing effort to find alternative platforms that do not require fine-tuning of parameters and can be easily scalable. In this talk, I will present a novel experimental approach based on two-dimensional materials. Using a Josephson junction made of HgTe quantum well coupled to thin-film aluminum, we can tune between a trivial and a topological superconducting state by controlling the phase difference across the junction and applying an in-plane magnetic field. We determine the topological state of the induced superconductor by measuring the tunneling conductance at the edge of the junction. At low fields, we observe a minimum in the tunneling spectra near zero bias, consistent with a trivial superconductor. However, as the magnetic field increases, the tunneling conductance develops a zero-bias peak which persists over a range of that expands systematically with increasing magnetic fields. Our observations are consistent with theoretical predictions for this system and with full quantum mechanical numerical simulations. This work provides a new platform for probing topological superconducting phases which can be generalized to other two-dimensional systems with spin-orbit coupling.