Signature of Dispersing 1D Majorana Channels in an Iron-based Superconductor

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence of dispersing Majorana modes in an iron-based superconductor by using scanning tunneling spectroscopy to analyze domain walls, revealing flat density of states indicative of 1D Majorana channels.

Contribution

First direct observation of dispersing Majorana modes in an iron-based superconductor through spectroscopic analysis of domain walls.

Findings

Identification of topological surface states in FeSe$_{0.45}$Te$_{0.55}$

Detection of flat density of states inside the superconducting gap at domain walls

Absence of such features in non-topological FeSe

Abstract

The possible realization of Majorana fermions as quasiparticle excitations in condensed matter physics has created much excitement. Most recent studies have focused on Majorana bound states which can serve as topological qubits. More generally, akin to elementary particles, Majorana fermions can propagate and display linear dispersion. These excitations have not yet been directly observed, and can also be used for quantum information processing. One route to realizing this is in a line junction between two phase-shifted superconductors coupled to topological surface states. Recent theory indicates that in iron-based superconductors, a particular type of crystalline defect, i.e., a domain wall (DW) between two regions with a half-unit cell shift between them, should create a $\pi$-phase shift in the superconducting order parameter. Combined with recent data showing topological surface states in FeSe$_x$Te$_{1-x}$ we find that this is the ideal system to realize helical 1D-dispersing Majorana modes. Here we report scanning tunneling spectroscopic (STS) measurements of crystalline DWs in FeSe$_{0.45}$Te$_{0.55}$. By analyzing large-area superconducting gap maps, we identify the gap in the topological surface state, demonstrating that our sample is an effective Fu-Kane proximitized topological system. We further locate DWs across which the atoms shift by half a unit cell. STS data on these DWs reveal a flat density of states inside the superconducting gap, a hallmark of linearly dispersing modes in 1D. This unique signature is absent in DWs in the related superconductor, FeSe which is not in the topological phase. Our combined data are consistent with the observation of dispersing Majorana states at a $\pi$-phase shift DW in a proximitized topological material.