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

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

doi:10.1126/science.aax0274

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 FeTe_0.55Se_0.45superconductors. 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 FeTe_0.55Se_0.45.

Authors:

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^[1]; Shen, Chengmin ^[1];

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Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Lab., Dongguan (China)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Publication Date:: 2019-12-12

Research Org.:: Brookhaven National Lab. (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:: 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.

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                    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

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                    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. Thu .  
"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.

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@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},

  journal      = {Science},

  number       = 6474,

  volume       = 367,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2019},

  month        = {12}

}

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