Effects of electron scattering on the topological properties of nanowires: Majorana fermions from disorder and superlattices

Abstract

We focus on inducing a topological state from regular or irregular scattering in (i) $p$-wave superconducting wires and (ii) Rashba wires proximity coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor. We find that, contrary to common expectations, the topological properties of both systems are fundamentally different: In $p$-wave wires, disorder generally has a detrimental effect on the topological order, and the topological state is destroyed beyond a critical disorder strength. In contrast, in Rashba wires, which are relevant for recent experiments, disorder can induce topological order, reducing the need for quasiballistic samples to obtain Majorana fermions. Moreover, we find that the total phase space area of the topological state is conserved for long disordered Rashba wires and can even be increased in an appropriately engineered superlattice potential.