Work

Engineering topological superconductors using surface atomic-layer/molecule hybrid materials

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Surface atomic-layer (SAL) superconductors consisting of epitaxially grown metal adatoms on a clean semiconductor surface have been recently established. Compared to conventional metal thin films, they have two important features: (i) space-inversion symmetry-breaking throughout the system and (ii) high sensitivity to surface adsorption of foreign species. These potentially lead to manifestation of the Rashba effect and a Zeeman field exerted by adsorbed magnetic organic molecules. After introduction of the archetypical SAL superconductor Si(111)-(√7 × √3)-In, we describe how these features are utilized to engineer a topological superconductor with Majorana fermions and discuss its promises and expected challenges.

Source: Nanotechnology

DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/26/34/344004

Author: Takashi Uchihashi

Institution: National Institute for Materials Science

Language: English

Topic: Topological Materials and Phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Award: Manifestation and control of superconductivity in semiconductor surface reconstructions