Experimental Detection of a Majorana Mode in the core of a Magnetic Vortex inside a Topological Insulator-Superconductor Bi 2 Te 3 / NbSe 2 Heterostructure
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Majorana fermions have been intensively studied in recent years for their importance to both fundamental science and potential applications in topological quantum computing. They are predicted to exist in a vortex core of superconducting topological insulators. However, it is extremely difficult to distinguish them experimentally from other quasiparticle states for the tiny energy difference between Majorana fermions and these states, which is beyond the energy resolution of most available techniques. Here, we circumvent the problem by systematically investigating the spatial profile of the Majorana mode and the bound quasiparticle states within a vortex in Bi(2)Te(3) films grown on a superconductor NbSe(2). While the zero bias peak in local conductance splits right off the vortex center in conventional superconductors, it splits off at a finite distance ∼20 nm away from the vortex center in Bi(2)Te(3). This unusual splitting behavior has never been observed before and could be possibly due to the Majorana fermion zero mode. While the Majorana mode is destroyed by the interaction between vortices, the zero bias peak splits as a conventional superconductor again. This work provides self-consistent evidences of Majorana fermions and also suggests a possible route to manipulating them.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Institutions: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Pennsylvania State University, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua University
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1208285713, G1349161280, G1466156056, G1716157104, G1899791646, G2684206040, G3529542803, G4248714899, 拓扑绝缘体中的奇特量子态研究, G440628146, 拓扑绝缘体薄膜与异质结制备及表面拓扑电子态研究, G5987245341, G6578877767, 高温超导的理论研究, 单个双原子层铋(Bi)薄膜能带结构的界面调控和边缘态研究, 低维量子结构中狄拉克型电子激发及其输运特性研究, G8189148456, G8348394332, G8414753534, G969705445
OpenAlex ID: W2586985273