Flat-band Majorana bound states in topological Josephson junctions

Abstract

Nodal topological superconductors characterized by p_{x}-wave pairing symmetry host flat-band Majorana bound states causing drastic anomalies in low-energy electromagnetic responses. Nevertheless, the study of flat-band Majorana bound states has been at a standstill owing to a serious lack of candidate materials for p_{x}-wave superconductors. In this paper, by expanding a scheme of planar topological Josephson junctions, we propose a promising device realizing an effective p_{x}-wave superconductor. Specifically, we consider a three-dimensional Josephson junction consisting of a thin-film semiconductor hosting a persistent spin-helix state and two conventional s-wave superconductors. We analytically obtain a topological phase diagram and numerically demonstrate the emergence of flat-band Majorana bound states by calculating the local density of states.