2017/10/12 by Sangjun Jeon, Yonglong Xie, Jian Li +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aan3670
published as Science, 12 October 2017 (10.1126/science.aan3670)
arxiv created 2017/10/12 · arxiv updated 2017/10/16
One-dimensional topological superconductors host Majorana zero modes (MZMs), the non-local property of which could be exploited for quantum computing applications. Spin- polarized scanning tunneling microscopy measurements show that MZMs realized in self- assembled Fe chains on the surface of Pb have a spin polarization that exceeds that due to the magnetism of these chains. This feature, captured by our model calculations, is a direct consequence of the nonlocality of the Hilbert space of MZMs emerging from a topological band structure. Our study establishes spin polarization measurements as a diagnostic tool to uniquely distinguish topological MZMs from trivial in-gap states of a superconductor.