Isolated pairs of Majorana zero modes in a disordered superconducting lead monolayer

Majorana zero modes are fractional quantum excitations appearing in pairs, each pair being a building block for quantum computation. Some signatures of Majorana zero modes have been reported at endpoints of one-dimensional systems, which are however required to be extremely clean. An alternative are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2019-06, Vol.10 (1), p.2587-7, Article 2587
Main Authors: Ménard, Gerbold C., Mesaros, Andrej, Brun, Christophe, Debontridder, François, Roditchev, Dimitri, Simon, Pascal, Cren, Tristan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
147/138
639/766/119/1003
639/766/119/2792/4129
639/925/357/1018
Condensed Matter
Energy
Humanities and Social Sciences
Islands
Lead
Magnetic domains
Magnetic islands
Materials Science
Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
Microscopy
Monolayers
multidisciplinary
Physics
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Silicon
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Spin-orbit interactions
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Superconductivity
Topography
Topological superconductors
Vortices
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Summary:Majorana zero modes are fractional quantum excitations appearing in pairs, each pair being a building block for quantum computation. Some signatures of Majorana zero modes have been reported at endpoints of one-dimensional systems, which are however required to be extremely clean. An alternative are two-dimensional topological superconductors, such as the Pb/Co/Si(111) system shown recently to be immune to local disorder. Here, we use scanning tunneling spectroscopy to characterize a disordered superconducting monolayer of Pb coupled to underlying Co-Si magnetic islands. We show that pairs of zero modes are stabilized: one zero mode positioned in the middle of the magnetic domain and its partner extended all around the domain. The zero mode pair is remarkably robust, isolated within a hard superconducting gap. Our theoretical scenario supports the protected Majorana nature of this zero mode pair, highlighting the role of magnetic or spin-orbit coupling textures. It is predicted that Majorana zero modes can appear locally around topological defects in a two-dimensional system. Here, the authors observe pairs of zero modes stabilized in the middle and around the magnetic domains in a disordered superconducting Pb monolayer.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-10397-5