Majorana bound states in a quantum dot device coupled with a superconductor zigzag chain

Abstract

Research in condensed matter physics on topological insulators and superconductors has contributed greatly to the characterization of the surface properties and zero modes of nanowires. In this work we investigated theoretically, using the recursive Green’s function approach, electron transport through a T-shaped single-level spinless quantum dot, connected to a zigzag chain and coupled to a p-wave superconductor. This model is an extension of the Kitaev chain for a triangular network of finite size with three, four, and five sites. We found that the Majorana zero modes can be tuned through the coupling parameters of the device and that the linear conductance shows Majorana bound states (MBS) in the topological phase, being maximally robust in the general topological phase. This more realistic model permits the detection of MBS via control of the parameters governing the electronic tunneling and could be helpful for relevant experiments.