Sublattice-sensitive Majorana Modes

For two- and three-dimensional topological insulators whose unit cells consist of multiple sublattices, the boundary terminating at which type of sublattice can affect the time-reversal invariant momentum at which the Dirac points of helical boundary states are located. Through a general theory and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2021-12
Main Authors: Zhu, Di, Bo-Xuan, Li, Yan, Zhongbo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Domain walls
Topological insulators
Unconventional superconductors
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:For two- and three-dimensional topological insulators whose unit cells consist of multiple sublattices, the boundary terminating at which type of sublattice can affect the time-reversal invariant momentum at which the Dirac points of helical boundary states are located. Through a general theory and a representative model, we reveal that this interesting property allows the realization of Majorana modes at sublattice domain walls forming on the boundary when the boundary Dirac points of the topological insulator are gapped by an unconventional superconductor in proximity. Intriguingly, we find that the sensitive sublattice-dependence of the Majorana modes allows their positions to be precisely manipulated by locally controlling the terminating sublattices or boundary potential. Our work reveals that the common sublattice degrees of freedom in materials open a new route to realize and manipulate Majorana modes.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2112.00761