Topological superconducting phases in disordered quantum wires with strong spin-orbit coupling

Piet W. Brouwer, Mathias Duckheim, Alessandro Romito, Felix von Oppen

Published 2011-03-14, updated 2012-02-14Version 2

Zeeman fields can drive semiconductor quantum wires with strong spin-orbit coupling and in proximity to s-wave superconductors into a topological phase which supports end Majorana fermions and offers an attractive platform for realizing topological quantum information processing. Here, we investigate how potential disorder affects the topological phase by a combination of analytical and numerical approaches. Most prominently, we find that the robustness of the topological phase against disorder depends sensitively and non-monotonously on the Zeeman field applied to the wire.