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Majorana Modes at the Ends of Superconductor Vortices in Doped Topological Insulators

Pavan Hosur, Pouyan Ghaemi, Roger S. K. Mong, and Ashvin Vishwanath
Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 097001 – Published 22 August 2011
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Abstract

Recent experiments have observed bulk superconductivity in doped topological insulators. Here we ask whether vortex Majorana zero modes, previously predicted to occur when s-wave superconductivity is induced on the surface of topological insulators, survive in these doped systems with metallic normal states. Assuming inversion symmetry, we find that they do but only below a critical doping. The critical doping is tied to a topological phase transition of the vortex line, at which it supports gapless excitations along its length. The critical point depends only on the vortex orientation and a suitably defined SU(2) Berry phase of the normal state Fermi surface. By calculating this phase for available band structures we determine that superconducting p-doped Bi2Te3, among others, supports vortex end Majorana modes. Surprisingly, superconductors derived from topologically trivial band structures can support Majorana modes too.

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  • Received 24 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.097001

© 2011 American Physical Society

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Majorana fermions inch closer to reality

Published 22 August 2011

Researchers predict that Majorana fermions can be found in magnetic field vortices in the bulk of the superconductor CuxBi2Se3.

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Authors & Affiliations

Pavan Hosur1, Pouyan Ghaemi1,2, Roger S. K. Mong1, and Ashvin Vishwanath1,2

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

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Issue

Vol. 107, Iss. 9 — 26 August 2011

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