Spin-orbit-coupled quantum wires and Majorana fermions on zigzag edges of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.155317· OSTI ID:1136819

Chu, Rui-Lin ^[1]; Liu, Gui-Bin ^[2]; Yao, Wang ^[3]; Xu, Xiaodong ^[4]; Xiao, Di ^[5]; Zhang, Chuanwei ^[1]

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1. University of Texas at Dallas
2. Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing
3. University of Hong Kong, The
4. University of Washington
5. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

Majoranafermions,quantumparticleswithnon-Abelianexchangestatistics,arenotonlyoffundamentalimportance,butalsobuildingblocksforfault-tolerantquantumcomputation.AlthoughcertainexperimentalbreakthroughsforobservingMajoranafermionshavebeenmaderecently,theirconclusivedetectionisstillchallengingduetothelackofpropermaterialpropertiesoftheunderlinedexperimentalsystems.HereweproposeaplatformforMajoranafermionsbasedonedgestatesofcertainnontopologicaltwo-dimensionalsemiconductorswithstrongspin-orbitcoupling,suchasmonolayergroup-VItransition-metaldichalcogenides(TMDs).Using rst-principlescalculationsandtight-bindingmodeling,weshowthatzigzagedgesofmonolayerTMDcanhostawellisolatedsingleedgebandwithstrongspin-orbit-couplingenergy.Combiningwithproximityinduceds-wavesuperconductivityandin-planemagnetic elds,thezigzagedgesupportsrobusttopologicalMajoranaboundstatesattheedgeends,althoughthetwo-dimensionalbulkitselfisnontopological.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1136819
• Journal Information: Physical Review B, Vol. 89, Issue 15; ISSN 1098--0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English