Detecting Topological Superconductivity with $\varphi_{0}$ Josephson Junctions

Abstract

The interplay of superconductivity, magnetic fields, and spin-orbit interaction lies at the heart of topological superconductivity. Remarkably, the recent experimental discovery of $\varphi_{0}$ Josephson junctions by Szombati et al., Nat. Phys. 12, 568 (2016), characterized by a finite phase offset in the supercurrent, require the same ingredients as topological superconductors, which suggests a profound connection between these two distinct phenomena. Here, we theoretically show that a quantum dot $\varphi_{0}$ Josephson junction can serve as a new qualitative indicator for topological superconductivity: Microscopically, we find that the phase shift in a junction of $s-$wave superconductors is due to the spin-orbit induced mixing of singly occupied states on the qantum dot, while for a topological superconductor junction it is due to singlet-triplet mixing. Because of this important difference, when the spin-orbit vector of the quantum dot and the external Zeeman field are orthogonal, the $s$-wave superconductors form a $\pi$ Josephson junction while the topological superconductors have a finite offset $\varphi_{0}$ by which topological superconductivity can be distinguished from conventional superconductivity. Our prediction can be immediately tested in nanowire systems currently used for Majorana fermion experiments and thus offers a new and realistic approach for detecting topological bound states.