Volkov-Pankratov states in topological superconductors

Abstract: We study the in-gap states that appear at the boundaries of both 1D and 2D topological superconductors. While the massless Majorana quasiparticles are guaranteed to arise by the bulk-edge correspondence, we find that they could be accompanied by massive Volkov-Pankratov (VP) states which are present only when the interface is sufficiently smooth. These predictions can be tested in an s-wave superconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling placed on top of a magnetic domain wall. We calculate the spin-resolved local density of states of the VP states about the band inversion generated by a magnetic domain wall and find that they are oppositely spin-polarized on either side of the topological phase boundary. We also demonstrate that the spatial position, energy-level spacing, and spin polarization of the VP states can be modified by the introduction of in-plane electric fields.