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Kong L, Cao L, Zhu S, Papaj M, Dai G, Li G, Fan P, Liu W, Yang F, Wang X, Du S, Jin C, Fu L, Gao HJ, Ding H. Majorana zero modes in impurity-assisted vortex of LiFeAs superconductor. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4146. [PMID: 34230479 PMCID: PMC8260634 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24372-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The iron-based superconductor is emerging as a promising platform for Majorana zero mode, which can be used to implement topological quantum computation. One of the most significant advances of this platform is the appearance of large vortex level spacing that strongly protects Majorana zero mode from other low-lying quasiparticles. Despite the advantages in the context of physics research, the inhomogeneity of various aspects hampers the practical construction of topological qubits in the compounds studied so far. Here we show that the stoichiometric superconductor LiFeAs is a good candidate to overcome this obstacle. By using scanning tunneling microscopy, we discover that the Majorana zero modes, which are absent on the natural clean surface, can appear in vortices influenced by native impurities. Our detailed analysis reveals a new mechanism for the emergence of those Majorana zero modes, i.e. native tuning of bulk Dirac fermions. The discovery of Majorana zero modes in this homogeneous material, with a promise of tunability, offers an ideal material platform for manipulating and braiding Majorana zero modes, pushing one step forward towards topological quantum computation. Despite the discovery of Majorana zero modes (MZM) in iron-based superconductors, sample inhomogeneity may destroy MZMs during braiding. Here, authors observe MZM in impurity-assisted vortices due to tuning of the bulk Dirac fermions in a homogeneous superconductor LiFeAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingyuan Kong
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Cao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shiyu Zhu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Michał Papaj
- Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Guangyang Dai
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Geng Li
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Fan
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wenyao Liu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fazhi Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiancheng Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shixuan Du
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Changqing Jin
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, China
| | - Liang Fu
- Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Hong-Jun Gao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Hong Ding
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
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