Toward tailoring Majorana bound states in artificially constructed magnetic atom chains on elemental superconductors

Kim, Howon; Palacio-Morales, Alexandra; Posske, Thore; Rózsa, Levente; Palotás, Krisztián; Szunyogh, L.; Thorwart, Michael; Wiesendanger, R.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar5251

Cited by 321 publications

(354 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(60 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

336

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…[63,64,65]. We also note that such spin helices have been indeed observed in other 1D-atomic system by STM measurements [66,67,68,69]. variations in single molecules within ∼ 0.05Å precision [73,74].…”

Section: Spin Texture Of Fe and Co Magnetic Chains On Superconducting Pbsupporting

confidence: 79%

Majorana fermions in magnetic chains

Pawlak

Hoffman

Klinovaja

et al. 2019

Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Majorana fermions have recently garnered a great attention outside the field of particle physics, in condensed matter physics. In contrast to their particle physics counterparts, Majorana fermions are zero energy, chargeless, spinless, composite quasiparticles, residing at the boundaries of so-called topological superconductors. Furthermore, in opposition to any particles in the standard model, Majorana fermions in solid-state systems obey non-Abelian exchange statistics that make them attractive candidates for decoherence-free implementations of quantum computers. In this review, we report on the recent advances to realize synthetic topological superconductors supporting Majorana fermions with an emphasis on chains of magnetic impurities on the surface of superconductors. After outlining the theoretical underpinning responsible for the formation of Majorana fermions, we report on the subsequent experimental efforts to build topological superconductors and the resulting evidence in favor of Majorana fermions, focusing on scanning tunneling microscopy and the hunt for zero-bias peaks in the measured current. We conclude by summarizing the open questions in the field and propose possible experimental measurements to answer them.

show abstract

Section: Spin Texture Of Fe and Co Magnetic Chains On Superconducting Pbsupporting

confidence: 79%

Majorana fermions in magnetic chains

Pawlak

Hoffman

Klinovaja

et al. 2019

Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Majorana fermions are their own antiparticles [4], and their condensed-matter analogs, Majorana bound state or Majorana zero mode (MZM), retain this feature [5]. They are thus considered to be promising candidates for technological advances in topological quantum computing [6][7][8] since their non-abelian statistics allow performing quantum computation protected from environmental perturbations [9]. Even though various experimental signatures of MZM have been reported [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], a clear and unambiguous detection and the consequent control of these states has proven difficult so far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinguishing Majorana zero modes from impurity states through time-resolved transport

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We study time-resolved charge transport in a superconducting nanowire using time-dependent Landauer-Büttiker theory. We find that the steady-state Majorana zero-bias conductance peak emerges transiently accompanied by characteristic oscillations after a bias-voltage quench. These oscillations are suppressed for trivial impurity states (IS) that otherwise show a similar steady-state signal as the Majorana zero mode (MZM). In addition, we find that Andreev bound states or quasi-Majorana states (QMS) in the topologically trivial bulk phase can give rise to a zero-bias conductance peak, also retaining the transient properties of the MZM. Our results imply that (1) time-resolved transport may be used as a probe to distinguish between the topological MZM and trivial IS; and (2) the QMS mimic the transient signatures of the topological MZMs.

show abstract

“…The topological superconducting phase of finite length one-dimensional systems with p-wave-like electron pairing enables the realization of Majorana-type quasiparticles that are immune to decoherence [1], hence being ideal candidates for constructing stable qubits. Spectroscopic signatures of such Majorana zero-energy modes (MZMs) have been so far observed in semiconducting nanowires proximitized to superconductors [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], nanoscopic chains of magnetic atoms deposited on superconducting surfaces [10][11][12][13][14][15], lithographically fabricated nanostructures, [16] and narrow metallic stripes embedded between two external superconductors differing in phase [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dimerization-induced topological superconductivity in a Rashba nanowire

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We analyze the influence of dimerization on the topological phases of a Rashba nanowire proximitized to a superconducting substrate. We find that periodic alternations of the hopping integral and spin-orbit coupling can lead to band inversion, inducing a transition to the topologically nontrivial superconducting phase that hosts Majorana zero-energy modes. This "dimerization-induced topological superconductivity" completely repels the topological phase of the uniform nanowire, whenever they happen to overlap. We provide an analytical justification for this puzzling behavior based on symmetry and parity considerations, and discuss feasible spectroscopic methods for its observation. We also test stability of the topological superconducting phases against electrostatic

show abstract

Toward tailoring Majorana bound states in artificially constructed magnetic atom chains on elemental superconductors

Abstract: We demonstrate the artificial construction of magnetic atom chains on a conventional superconductor as a Majorana platform.

Cited by 321 publications

References 46 publications

Majorana fermions in magnetic chains

Majorana fermions in magnetic chains

Distinguishing Majorana zero modes from impurity states through time-resolved transport

Dimerization-induced topological superconductivity in a Rashba nanowire

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About