Bulk transport through superconducting hybrid structures in HgTe quantum wells

We investigate the subgap bulk transport through short and wide superconducting hybrid structures based on HgTe quantum wells (QWs). We show that the differential conductance of a normal-metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) proximity structure behaves in a qualitatively different way with respect to the topological phase of the HgTe QW. We compare the differential conductance for the NIS structure within the wave-matching method based on the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation and the matrix method based on the normal-state scattering matrix and find that the two models agree for highly doped N and S contacts. We also show that the effect of a possible Rashba spin-orbit interaction on the differential conductance can be significant for weakly doped N and S contacts. Our findings should be important in samples with a large aspect ratio where bulk contributions in transport are dominant.