Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state
Abstract
Superconducting materials exhibiting topological properties are emerging as an exciting platform to realize fundamentally new excitations from topological quantum states of matter. In this letter, we explore the possibility of a field-free platform for generating Majorana zero energy excitations by depositing magnetic Fe impurities on the surface of candidate topological superconductors, LiFeAs and PbTaSe2. We use scanning tunneling microscopy to probe localized states induced at the Fe adatoms on the atomic scale and at sub-Kelvin temperatures. We find that each Fe adatom generates a striking zero-energy bound state inside the superconducting gap, which do not split in magnetic fields up to 8 T, underlining a nontrivial topological origin. Finally, our findings point to magnetic Fe adatoms evaporated on bulk superconductors with topological surface states for exploring Majorana zero modes and quantum information science under field-free conditions.
- Authors:
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[1];
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- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Lab. for Topological Quantum Matter and Advanced Spectroscopy
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Beijing National Lab. for Condensed Matter Physics, Inst. of Physics
- National Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan (Taiwan); Center for Quantum Frontiers of Research & Technology (QFort), Tainan (Taiwan); National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Hsinchu (Taiwan)
- Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
- Shanghai Jiaotong Univ., Shanghai (China)
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
- Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan). Inst. of Physics
- National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan). Center for Condensed Matter Science
- Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan). Inst. of Physics; National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan). Center for Condensed Matter Science
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Lab. for Topological Quantum Matter and Advanced Spectroscopy; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1632136
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1607821
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; FG02-05ER46200; FG02-99ER45747
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review B
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 101; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Citation Formats
Zhang, Songtian S., Yin, Jia-Xin, Dai, Guangyang, Zhao, Lingxiao, Chang, Tay-Rong, Shumiya, Nana, Jiang, Kun, Zheng, Hao, Bian, Guang, Multer, Daniel, Litskevich, Maksim, Chang, Guoqing, Belopolski, Ilya, Cochran, Tyler A., Wu, Xianxin, Wu, Desheng, Luo, Jianlin, Chen, Genfu, Lin, Hsin, Chou, Fang-Cheng, Wang, Xiancheng, Jin, Changqing, Sankar, Raman, Wang, Ziqiang, and Hasan, M. Zahid. Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.101.100507.
Zhang, Songtian S., Yin, Jia-Xin, Dai, Guangyang, Zhao, Lingxiao, Chang, Tay-Rong, Shumiya, Nana, Jiang, Kun, Zheng, Hao, Bian, Guang, Multer, Daniel, Litskevich, Maksim, Chang, Guoqing, Belopolski, Ilya, Cochran, Tyler A., Wu, Xianxin, Wu, Desheng, Luo, Jianlin, Chen, Genfu, Lin, Hsin, Chou, Fang-Cheng, Wang, Xiancheng, Jin, Changqing, Sankar, Raman, Wang, Ziqiang, & Hasan, M. Zahid. Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.100507
Zhang, Songtian S., Yin, Jia-Xin, Dai, Guangyang, Zhao, Lingxiao, Chang, Tay-Rong, Shumiya, Nana, Jiang, Kun, Zheng, Hao, Bian, Guang, Multer, Daniel, Litskevich, Maksim, Chang, Guoqing, Belopolski, Ilya, Cochran, Tyler A., Wu, Xianxin, Wu, Desheng, Luo, Jianlin, Chen, Genfu, Lin, Hsin, Chou, Fang-Cheng, Wang, Xiancheng, Jin, Changqing, Sankar, Raman, Wang, Ziqiang, and Hasan, M. Zahid. Tue .
"Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.100507. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1632136.
@article{osti_1632136,
title = {Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state},
author = {Zhang, Songtian S. and Yin, Jia-Xin and Dai, Guangyang and Zhao, Lingxiao and Chang, Tay-Rong and Shumiya, Nana and Jiang, Kun and Zheng, Hao and Bian, Guang and Multer, Daniel and Litskevich, Maksim and Chang, Guoqing and Belopolski, Ilya and Cochran, Tyler A. and Wu, Xianxin and Wu, Desheng and Luo, Jianlin and Chen, Genfu and Lin, Hsin and Chou, Fang-Cheng and Wang, Xiancheng and Jin, Changqing and Sankar, Raman and Wang, Ziqiang and Hasan, M. Zahid},
abstractNote = {Superconducting materials exhibiting topological properties are emerging as an exciting platform to realize fundamentally new excitations from topological quantum states of matter. In this letter, we explore the possibility of a field-free platform for generating Majorana zero energy excitations by depositing magnetic Fe impurities on the surface of candidate topological superconductors, LiFeAs and PbTaSe2. We use scanning tunneling microscopy to probe localized states induced at the Fe adatoms on the atomic scale and at sub-Kelvin temperatures. We find that each Fe adatom generates a striking zero-energy bound state inside the superconducting gap, which do not split in magnetic fields up to 8 T, underlining a nontrivial topological origin. Finally, our findings point to magnetic Fe adatoms evaporated on bulk superconductors with topological surface states for exploring Majorana zero modes and quantum information science under field-free conditions.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.101.100507},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 10,
volume = 101,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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