2015/06/10 by Takuto Kawakami, Xiao Hu · 74 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Biology #Bound state #Checkerboard #Condensed matter physics #MAJORANA #Paleontology #Physics #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin states #State (computer science) #Superconductivity #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Type (biology) #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.115.177001
published in Physical Review Letters 115(17), 177001 (American Physical Society) · 6 pages, 7 figures
arxiv created 2015/06/10 · openalex publication_date 2015/10/22 · arxiv updated 2015/10/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In terms of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes approach, we investigate the Majorana bound state (MBS) in a vortex of proximity-induced superconductivity on the surface of a topological insulator. Mapping out the local density of states (LDOS) of quasiparticle excitations as a function of energy and distance from the vortex center, it is found that the spectral distribution evolves from a V shape to a Y shape with the emergence of a MBS upon variation of the chemical potential, consistent with the STM/STS measurement in a very recent experiment [Xu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 017001 (2015)] on a Bi(2)Te(3) thin layer on the top of NbSe(2). Moreover, we demonstrate that there is a checkerboard-type pattern in the relative LDOS between the spin-up and -down channels, where the quantum mechanical wave function of the MBS manifests itself clearly as a single quantum state. Therefore, a spin-resolved STM/STS technique is expected to be able to provide phase-sensitive evidence for a MBS in the vortex core of a topological superconductor.