Majorana Zero Modes Induced by the Meissner Effect at Small Magnetic Field

Xiao-Hong Pan, Li Chen, Dong E. Liu, Fu-Chun Zhang, and Xin Liu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 036602 – Published 16 January 2024
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

One key difficulty in realizing Majorana zero modes (MZMs) is the required high magnetic field, which causes serious issues, e.g., shrinks the superconducting gap, reduces topological region, and weakens their robustness against disorders. In this Letter, we propose that the Meissner effect can bring the topological superconducting phase to a superconductor/topological-insulator/superconductor (SC/TI/SC) hybrid system. Remarkably, the required magnetic field strength (<10mT) to support MZMs has been reduced by several orders of magnitude compared to that (>0.5T) in the previous schemes. Tuning the phase difference between the top and bottom superconductors can control the number and position of the MZMs. In addition, we account for the electrostatic potential in the superconductor/topological-insulator (SC/TI) interface through the self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson calculation, which shows the experimental accessibility of our proposal. Our proposal only needs a small magnetic field of less than 10 mT and is robust against the chemical potential fluctuation, which makes the SC/TI/SC hybrid an ideal Majorana platform.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 14 February 2023
  • Accepted 28 November 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.036602

© 2024 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Xiao-Hong Pan1,2,3, Li Chen4, Dong E. Liu4,*, Fu-Chun Zhang5,†, and Xin Liu1,2,3,‡

  • 1School of Physics and Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
  • 2Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics and Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
  • 3Wuhan Institute of Quantum Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
  • 5Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

  • *dongeliu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
  • fuchun@ucas.ac.cn
  • phyliuxin@hust.edu.cn

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 132, Iss. 3 — 19 January 2024

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×