Title:

Interplay between Topology and Superconductivity in 3D Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators

Abstract:

Interactions between 3D time-reversal invariant topological insulators and dissimilar materials have been predicted to sweep out a plethora of interesting excitations. Of these excitations, the most sought after is the Majorana fermion, the quasiparticle that is predicted to form the backbone of topological quantum computation. The Majorana excitations are predicted to arise from the interplay between the topological surface states and s-wave superconductors. Yet beyond initial predictions of how these states manifest themselves in 3D time-reversal invariant topological insulators when paired with s-wave superconductors, the interplay between these two phenomena remains a relatively poorly understood quantity. In this talk, we will discuss recent theoretical and experimental progress in understanding this interesting phenomenon as well as additional experimental signatures and future outlook.