Subgap spectroscopy along hybrid nanowires by nm-thick tunnel barriers.

Tunneling spectroscopy is widely used to examine the subgap spectra in semiconductor-superconductor nanostructures when searching for Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Typically, semiconductor sections controlled by local gates at the ends of hybrids serve as tunnel barriers. Besides detecting states only at the hybrid ends, such gate-defined tunnel probes can cause the formation of non-topological subgap states that mimic MZMs.

Electrostatic control of the proximity effect in the bulk of semiconductor-superconductor hybrids.

The proximity effect in semiconductor-superconductor nanowires is expected to generate an induced gap in the semiconductor. The magnitude of this induced gap, together with the semiconductor properties like spin-orbit coupling and g-factor, depends on the coupling between the materials. It is predicted that this coupling can be adjusted through the use of electric fields.

Changes of the molecule-substrate interaction upon metal inclusion into a porphyrin.

Metal-dependent conformations: a change in the adaptation of tetraphenylporphyrins (TPPs) on Ag(111) was observed in the presence of a metal ion in the macrocycle. Upon annealing at T>575 K, 2H-TPP molecules increase the overlap of the phenyl π orbitals with the substrate, thus reducing the distance. The presence of Co creates a strong bond between Co dz(2) and the Ag sp states, leaving the porphyrin macrocycle at a larger distance to the surface.