Optimizing spin-orbit splittings in InSb Majorana nanowires

Understand

Semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures represent a promising platform for the detection of Majorana zero modes and subsequently the processing of quantum information using their exotic non-Abelian statistics.

• Theoretical modeling of such low-dimensional semiconductors is generally based on phenomenological effective models.
• However, a more microscopic understanding of their band structure and, especially, of the spin-orbit coupling of electrons in these devices is important for optimizing their parameters for applications in quantum computing.
• In this paper, we approach this problem by first obtaining a highly accurate effective tight-binding model from ab initio calculations in the bulk.