https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-025-01095-x
Research - Condensed Matter
Spin-polarized transport and quantum phase transitions in one-dimensional superconductor-ferromagnetic insulator heterostructures
1
Instituto de Física La Plata - CONICET, Diag 113 y 64, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
2
Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, cc 67, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
3
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and CONICET, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
4
Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas, (CONICET-UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
a
javier.feijoo@fisica.unlp.edu.ar
Received:
25
July
2025
Accepted:
15
November
2025
Published online:
28
November
2025
We theoretically propose a one-dimensional electronic nanodevice inspired in recently fabricated semiconductor–superconductor–ferromagnetic insulator (SE-SC-FMI) hybrid heterostructures, and investigate its subgap transport properties. While previous related studies have primarily focused on the potential for generating topological superconductors hosting Majorana fermions, we propose an alternative application for these devices: to generate tunable spin-polarized Andreev bound states (ABS) with potential uses in the design of spintronic devices. The proposed setup allows to controllably explore and detect the subgap ABS and to identify the associated spin- and parity-changing transitions in tunnel transport experiments. Our study highlights two key differences from existing devices: first, the length of the FMI layer must be shorter than that of the SE-SC heterostructure, introducing an inhomogeneous Zeeman interaction with significant effects on the induced ABS. Second, we focus on semiconductor nanowires with minimal or no Rashba spin-orbit interaction, allowing for the induction of spin-polarized ABS and high-spin quantum ground states. We show that the device can be tuned across spin- and fermion parity-changing transitions by adjusting the FMI layer length and/or by applying a global back gate voltage, with zero-energy crossings of subgap ABS as signatures of these transitions. Our findings suggest that these effects are experimentally accessible and offer a robust platform for studying and controlling spin-polarized ABS and quantum phase transitions in hybrid nanowires.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
