Signature of a pair of Majorana zero modes in superconducting gold surface states
Cite this dataset
Wei, Peng et al. (2020). Signature of a pair of Majorana zero modes in superconducting gold surface states [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.6086/D12X00
Abstract
Under certain conditions, a fermion in a superconductor can separate in space into two parts known as Majorana zero modes, which are immune to decoherence from local noise sources and are attractive building blocks for quantum computers. Promising experimental progress has been made to demonstrate Majorana zero modes in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling proximity coupled to superconductors. Here we show direct evidence of the split Majorana pair in a new material platform utilizing the two-dimensional surface states of gold, which is intrinsically scalable for building the complex nanowire circuits for topological qubits. Using scanning tunneling microscope to probe EuS islands grown on top of gold nanowires, we confirm the Majorana pair by demonstrating two spatially well separated zero bias tunneling conductance peaks aligned along the direction of the applied magnetic field. Our work opens the door towards scalable and robust Majorana based topological qubits.
Methods
Data is collected using scanning tunneling microscopy. It is processed using Origin software.
Funding
John Templeton Foundation, Award: 39944
Office of Naval Research, Award: N00014-13-1-0301
Office of Naval Research, Award: N00014-16-1-2657
National Science Foundation, Award: DMR-1207469
National Science Foundation, Award: DMR-1700137
National Science Foundation, Award: QLCI-CG grant 1937155
United States Department of Energy, Award: DE-FG02- 03ER46076
Croucher Foundation
Dr. Tai-chin Lo Foundation
Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Award: C6026-16W