Time-reversal anomaly and Josephson effect in time-reversal invariant topological superconductors

Aug, 2012
7 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.B 88 (2013) 21, 214514
  • Published: Dec 23, 2013
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Abstract: (APS)

Topological superconductors are gapped superconductors with protected Majorana surface/edge states on the boundary. In this paper, we study the Josephson coupling between time-reversal-invariant topological superconductors and s-wave superconductors. The Majorana edge/surface states of time-reversal-invariant topological superconductors in all physical dimensions 1, 2, and 3 have a generic topological property which we name the time-reversal anomaly. Due to the time-reversal anomaly, the Josephson coupling prefers a nonzero phase difference between topological and trivial superconductors. The nontrivial Josephson coupling leads to a current-flux relation with a half period in a superconducting quantum interference device geometry, and also a half-period Fraunhofer effect in dimensions higher than 1. We also show that an in-plane magnetic field restores the ordinary Josephson coupling, as a sharp signature that the proposed effect is a consequence of the unique time-reversal property of the topological edge/surface states. Our proposal provides a simple and general approach to experimentally verify whether a time-reversal-invariant superconductor is topological.

Note:
  • 6 pages, 3 figures
  • 71.10.Pm
  • 74.50.+r
  • 75.10.Jm
  • superconductivity: topological
  • time reversal: invariance
  • invariance: topological
  • surface
  • fermion: Majorana
  • magnetic field