Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Altermagnetism provides new routes to realize Majorana zero modes with vanishing net magnetization. We consider a recently proposed heterostructure consisting of a semiconducting wire on top of an altermagnet and with proximity-induced superconductivity. We demonstrate that rotating the wire serves as a tuning knob to induce the topological phase. For $d$-, $g$-, and $i$-wave altermagnetic pairing, we derive angle-dependent topological gap-closing conditions. We derive symmetry constraints on angles where the induced altermagnetism must vanish, which we verify by explicit models. Our results imply that a bent or curved wire realizes a spatially-dependent topological invariant with Majorana zero modes pinned to positions where the topological invariant changes. This provides a new experimental set-up whereby a single wire can host both topologically trivial and nontrivial regimes without in situ tuning.
DOI: 10.1103/p79l-rty6
Authors: Andreas Hadjipaschalis, Sayed Ali Akbar Ghorashi, Jennifer Cano
Institutions: Stony Brook University, Flatiron Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4417267733