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Proposal for realizing Majorana fermions in chains of magnetic atoms on a superconductor

S. Nadj-Perge, I. K. Drozdov, B. A. Bernevig, and Ali Yazdani
Phys. Rev. B 88, 020407(R) – Published 25 July 2013
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Abstract

We propose an easy-to-build easy-to-detect scheme for realizing Majorana fermions at the ends of a chain of magnetic atoms on the surface of a superconductor. Model calculations show that such chains can be easily tuned between trivial and topological ground states. In the latter, spatially resolved spectroscopy can be used to probe the Majorana fermion end states. Decoupled Majorana bound states can form even in short magnetic chains consisting of only tens of atoms. We propose scanning tunneling microscopy as the ideal technique to fabricate such systems and to probe their topological properties.

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  • Received 18 January 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.020407

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

S. Nadj-Perge, I. K. Drozdov, B. A. Bernevig, and Ali Yazdani*

  • Department of Physics, Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

  • *Corresponding author: yazdani@princeton.edu

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 2 — 1 July 2013

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