title: Gapless Andreev bound states in the quantum spin Hall insulator HgTe.
abstract: In recent years, Majorana physics has attracted considerable attention because of exotic new phenomena and its prospects for fault-tolerant topological quantum computation. To this end, one needs to engineer the interplay between superconductivity and electronic properties in a topological insulator, but experimental work remains scarce and ambiguous. Here, we report experimental evidence for topological superconductivity induced in a HgTe quantum well, a 2D topological insulator that exhibits the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect. The a.c. Josephson effect demonstrates that the supercurrent has a 4π periodicity in the superconducting phase difference, as indicated by a doubling of the voltage step for multiple Shapiro steps. In addition, this response like that of a superconducting quantum interference device to a perpendicular magnetic field shows that the 4π-periodic supercurrent originates from states located on the edges of the junction. Both features appear strongest towards the QSH regime, and thus provide evidence for induced topological superconductivity in the QSH edge states.
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Erwann
authors: E
authors: Bocquillon
authors: Advanced Device Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.|Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.
authors: Russell S
authors: RS
authors: Deacon
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Jonas
authors: J
authors: Wiedenmann
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Leubner
authors: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
authors: Teunis M
authors: TM
authors: Klapwijk
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Brüne
authors: Advanced Device Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.|Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Ishibashi
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Hartmut
authors: H
authors: Buhmann
authors: Physikalisches Institut (EP3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Laurens W
authors: LW
authors: Molenkamp