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  • Title: Charge localization and reentrant superconductivity in a quasi-ballistic InAs nanowire coupled to superconductors.
    Author: Estrada Saldaña JC, Žitko R, Cleuziou JP, Lee EJH, Zannier V, Ercolani D, Sorba L, Aguado R, De Franceschi S.
    Journal: Sci Adv; 2019 Jul; 5(7):eaav1235. PubMed ID: 31281880.
    Abstract:
    A semiconductor nanowire with strong spin-orbit coupling in proximity to a superconductor is predicted to display Majorana edge states emerging under a properly oriented magnetic field. The experimental investigation of these exotic states requires assessing the one-dimensional (1D) character of the nanowire and understanding the superconducting proximity effect in the presence of a magnetic field. Here, we explore the quasi-ballistic 1D transport regime of an InAs nanowire with Ta contacts. Fine-tuned by means of local gates, the observed plateaus of approximately quantized conductance hide the presence of a localized electron, giving rise to a lurking Coulomb blockade effect and Kondo physics. When Ta becomes superconducting, this local charge causes an unusual, reentrant magnetic field dependence of the supercurrent, which we ascribe to a 0 - π transition. Our results underline the relevant role of unintentional charge localization in the few-channel regime where helical subbands and Majorana quasi-particles are expected to arise.
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