Strain manipulation of Majorana fermions in graphene

TL;DR

This paper explores how strain affects the emergence and stability of Majorana fermions in functionalized graphene with superconductivity, magnetic fields, and spin-orbit coupling, proposing methods for quantum device applications.

Contribution

It introduces the impact of strain on topological phases in graphene and suggests experimental schemes for manipulating Majorana fermions for quantum computing.

Findings

Strain destabilizes topological phases and Majorana fermions in graphene.

Doping, magnetic fields, and pseudomagnetic fields induce topological phase transitions.

Proposes experimental methods to create and control Majorana modes in graphene.

Abstract

The functionalized graphene with induced superconductivity, Zeeman coupling, and finite Rashba spin-orbit coupling is proposed to display topological superconducting phases with Majorana end modes. We obtain the phase diagram of bulk graphene and nanoribbon by calculating the Chern number, band structure and wavefunction. The electron doping in graphene, magnetic field and strain-induced pseudomagnetic field can result in the topological phase transition. Moreover, it is interested to note that strain has negative influence on the stability of topological nontrivial phase either uniform or nonuniform, destroying the existence of Majorana fermion, which provides a new way to transfer, create and fuse Majorana fermions. Some experimental schemes are also introduced to tailor functionalized graphene, generating various devices applied in topological quantum computation.