Controllable Majorana vortex states in iron-based superconducting nanowires

Chuang Li; Xun-Jiang Luo; Li Chen; Dong E Liu; Fu-Chun Zhang; Xin Liu

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwac095

Controllable Majorana vortex states in iron-based superconducting nanowires

Natl Sci Rev. 2022 May 17;9(9):nwac095. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac095. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Chuang Li^{1

2}, Xun-Jiang Luo^{1

2}, Li Chen^{1

2}, Dong E Liu³, Fu-Chun Zhang^{4

5}, Xin Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
² Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center and Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, Wuhan 430074, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁴ Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences and CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computing, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
⁵ Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.

Abstract

To reveal the non-Abelian braiding statistics of Majorana zero modes (MZMs), it is crucial to design a Majorana platform, in which MZMs can be easily manipulated in a broad topological nontrivial parameter space. This is also an essential step to confirm their existence. In this study, we propose an iron-based superconducting nanowire system with Majorana vortex states to satisfy desirable conditions. This system has a radius-induced topological phase transition, giving a lower bound for the nanowire radius. In the topological phase, the iron-based superconducting nanowires have only one pair of MZMs over a wide range of radii, chemical potential and external magnetic fields. The wave function of MZMs has a sizable distribution at the side edge of the nanowires. This property enables the control of the interaction of MZMs in neighboring vortex nanowires and paves the way for Majorana fusion and braiding.

Keywords: Majorana zero modes; iron-based superconductor; nanowire; superconducting vortex; topological phase transition.