Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices

2012/04/12 by V. Mourik, Vincent Mourik, Kun Zuo +9 · 64 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Graphene research and applications #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.supr-con #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.1222360

Raw data available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4121/uuid:8bf81177-2f2b-49c2-aaf5-d36739873dd9

arxiv created 2012/04/12 · arxiv updated 2012/04/13 · openalex publication_date 2012/04/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Majorana fermions are particles identical to their own antiparticles. They have been theoretically predicted to exist in topological superconductors. We report electrical measurements on InSb nanowires contacted with one normal (Au) and one superconducting electrode (NbTiN). Gate voltages vary electron density and define a tunnel barrier between normal and superconducting contacts. In the presence of magnetic fields of order 100 mT we observe bound, mid-gap states at zero bias voltage. These bound states remain fixed to zero bias even when magnetic fields and gate voltages are changed over considerable ranges. Our observations support the hypothesis of Majorana fermions in nanowires coupled to superconductors.

Citations

• Teoria simmetrica dell’elettrone e del positrone
• Helical liquids and Majorana bound states in quantum wires
• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation

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