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Title: Nearly quantized conductance plateau of vortex zero mode in an iron-based superconductor

Abstract

Majorana zero modes (MZMs) are spatially-localized zero-energy fractional quasiparticles with non-Abelian braiding statistics that hold promise for topological quantum computing. Owing to the particle-antiparticle equivalence, MZMs reflect quantized conductance at low temperature. By utilizing variable-tunnel-coupled scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we study tunneling conductance of vortex bound states on FeTe0.55Se0.45 superconductors. Here, we report observations of conductance plateaus as a function of tunnel coupling for zero-energy vortex bound states with values close to or even reaching the 2e2/h quantum conductance (here eis the electron charge and h is Planck’s constant). In contrast, no plateaus were observed on either finite energy vortex bound states or in the continuum of electronic states outside the superconducting gap. This behavior of the zero-mode conductance confirms the existence of MZMs in FeTe0.55Se0.45.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Lab., Dongguan (China)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
OSTI Identifier:
1579493
Report Number(s):
BNL-212402-2019-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 0036-8075; TRN: US2102248
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 367; Journal Issue: 6474; Journal ID: ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher:
AAAS
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats

Zhu, Shiyu, Kong, Lingyuan, Cao, Lu, Chen, Hui, Papaj, Michał, Du, Shixuan, Xing, Yuqing, Liu, Wenyao, Wang, Dongfei, Shen, Chengmin, Yang, Fazhi, Schneeloch, John, Zhong, Ruidan, Gu, Genda, Fu, Liang, Zhang, Yu-Yang, Ding, Hong, and Gao, Hong-Jun. Nearly quantized conductance plateau of vortex zero mode in an iron-based superconductor. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1126/science.aax0274.
Zhu, Shiyu, Kong, Lingyuan, Cao, Lu, Chen, Hui, Papaj, Michał, Du, Shixuan, Xing, Yuqing, Liu, Wenyao, Wang, Dongfei, Shen, Chengmin, Yang, Fazhi, Schneeloch, John, Zhong, Ruidan, Gu, Genda, Fu, Liang, Zhang, Yu-Yang, Ding, Hong, & Gao, Hong-Jun. Nearly quantized conductance plateau of vortex zero mode in an iron-based superconductor. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0274
Zhu, Shiyu, Kong, Lingyuan, Cao, Lu, Chen, Hui, Papaj, Michał, Du, Shixuan, Xing, Yuqing, Liu, Wenyao, Wang, Dongfei, Shen, Chengmin, Yang, Fazhi, Schneeloch, John, Zhong, Ruidan, Gu, Genda, Fu, Liang, Zhang, Yu-Yang, Ding, Hong, and Gao, Hong-Jun. 2019. "Nearly quantized conductance plateau of vortex zero mode in an iron-based superconductor". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0274. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1579493.
@article{osti_1579493,
title = {Nearly quantized conductance plateau of vortex zero mode in an iron-based superconductor},
author = {Zhu, Shiyu and Kong, Lingyuan and Cao, Lu and Chen, Hui and Papaj, Michał and Du, Shixuan and Xing, Yuqing and Liu, Wenyao and Wang, Dongfei and Shen, Chengmin and Yang, Fazhi and Schneeloch, John and Zhong, Ruidan and Gu, Genda and Fu, Liang and Zhang, Yu-Yang and Ding, Hong and Gao, Hong-Jun},
abstractNote = {Majorana zero modes (MZMs) are spatially-localized zero-energy fractional quasiparticles with non-Abelian braiding statistics that hold promise for topological quantum computing. Owing to the particle-antiparticle equivalence, MZMs reflect quantized conductance at low temperature. By utilizing variable-tunnel-coupled scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we study tunneling conductance of vortex bound states on FeTe0.55Se0.45 superconductors. Here, we report observations of conductance plateaus as a function of tunnel coupling for zero-energy vortex bound states with values close to or even reaching the 2e2/h quantum conductance (here eis the electron charge and h is Planck’s constant). In contrast, no plateaus were observed on either finite energy vortex bound states or in the continuum of electronic states outside the superconducting gap. This behavior of the zero-mode conductance confirms the existence of MZMs in FeTe0.55Se0.45.},
doi = {10.1126/science.aax0274},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1579493}, journal = {Science},
issn = {0036-8075},
number = 6474,
volume = 367,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Thu Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Generic quantized zero-bias conductance peaks in superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures
journal, January 2020