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    Superconducting phase-difference-free route to second-order topological superconductivity in Rashba-Dresselhaus bilayers

    Hai-Yuan Sun1, Lizhou Liu2, Cheng-Ming Miao2, Qing-Feng Sun2,3,4, and Ying-Tao Zhang1,*

    • 1College of Physics, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, China
    • 2International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    • 3Beijing Key Laboratory of Quantum Devices, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    • 4Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China

    • *Contact author: zhangyt@mail.hebtu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 113, 155418 – Published 10 April, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ycqy-tyy2

    Abstract

    We propose a superconducting phase-difference-free approach to realizing second-order topological superconductivity in bilayers of coupled two-dimensional electron gases. In this setup, one layer hosts Rashba and the other hosts Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. With proximity-induced conventional s-wave pairing of the identical phase and a perpendicular Zeeman field, the two layers effectively emulate chiral p-wave superconductors of opposite chirality. The misalignment between the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin textures, combined with interlayer tunneling, gives rise to mass domain walls at the sample corners, which bind robust Majorana zero modes protected by a mirror-symmetry-graded Z2 invariant. Unlike previous proposals, our scheme requires no superconducting phase difference between the layers, thereby eliminating a major experimental challenge. Furthermore, the spatial positions of the Majorana corner modes can be electrically controlled by engineering orthogonal Rashba channels via ferroelectric polarization. This electrical tunability naturally enables the movement and exchange of Majorana modes in multiterminal geometries, positioning Rashba-Dresselhaus bilayers as a practical and versatile platform for higher-order topological superconductivity and Majorana-based quantum computation.

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