Majorana fermions in charge carrier hole quantum wires

Abstract

Luttinger holes with strong Zeemann and spin-orbit interactions in a wire proximity-coupled to a superconductor is a promising system for observation of Majorana fermions. Earlier treatments of confined Luttinger holes in wires ignored a mutual transformation of heavy and light holes upon reflection from the heteroboundaries. This effect is crucial for Zeemann and spin-orbit coupling in the ground subband of holes with several spin-orbit terms linear in momentum. We discuss the criterion for realizing Majorana modes in charge carrier hole systems. GaAs or InSb hole wires shall exhibit stronger topological superconducting pairing compared to InSb electron systems in similar or weaker magnetic fields.