Zero-Energy Modes on Superconducting Bismuth Islands Deposited on Fe(Te,Se)

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of zero-energy modes on Bi islands on Fe(Te,Se), interpreted as Majorana modes induced by proximity effect, advancing the understanding of topological superconductivity and Majorana fermions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of zero-energy modes on Bi islands on Fe(Te,Se), suggesting Majorana modes induced by proximity effect in a new material system.

Findings

Zero-energy modes observed on Bi islands.

Interpretation as Majorana modes due to topological superconductivity.

Proximity effect induces topological states in Bi islands.

Abstract

Topological superconductivity is one of the frontier research directions in condensed matter physics. One of the unique elementary excitations in topological superconducting state is the Majorana fermion (mode) which is its own antiparticle and obeys the non-Abelian statistics, and thus useful for constructing the fault-tolerant quantum computing. The evidence for Majorana fermions (mode) in condensed matter state is now quickly accumulated. Here we report the easily achievable zero-energy mode on the tunneling spectra on Bi islands deposited on the Fe(Te,Se) superconducting single crystals. We interpret this result as the consequence of proximity effect induced topological superconductivity on the Bi islands with strong spin-orbital coupling effect. The zero-energy mode is argued to be the signature of the Majorana modes in this size confined system.