Majorana Zero Modes in Semiconductor Nanowires in Contact with Higher-$T_c$ Superconductors

Abstract

We analyze the prospects for stabilizing Majorana zero modes in semiconductor nanowires that are proximity-coupled to higher-temperature superconductors. We begin with the case of iron pnictides which, though they are s-wave superconductors, are believed to have superconducting gaps that change sign. We then consider the case of cuprate superconudctors. We show that a nanowire on a step-like surface, especially in an orthorhombic material such as YBCO, can support Majorana zero modes at an elevated temperature.

arXiv commentReferences added

References in corpus (27)

• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
• Anyons in an exactly solved model and beyond
• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Unpaired Majorana fermions in quantum wires
• Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
• Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor Heterostructures
• Paired states of fermions in two dimensions with breaking of parity and time-reversal symmetries, and the fractional quantum Hall effect
• Helical liquids and Majorana bound states in quantum wires
• A generic new platform for topological quantum computation using semiconductor heterostructures
• Non-Abelian statistics and topological quantum information processing in 1D wire networks
• Observation of the fractional ac Josephson effect: the signature of Majorana particles
• Observation of Fermi-surface-dependent nodeless superconducting gaps in Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2
• Topological Phases of Noncentrosymmetric Superconductors: Edge States, Majorana Fermions, and the Non-Abelian Statistics
• $2n$ Quasihole States Realize $2^{n-1}$-Dimensional Spinor Braiding Statistics in Paired Quantum Hall States
• Fermion zero modes on vortices in chiral superconductors
• Quantum Phases of Vortices in Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensates
• Unconventional superconductivity on a topological insulator
• Particle-hole symmetry and the Pfaffian state
• Particle-Hole Symmetry and the $\nu =5/2$ Quantum Hall State
• Unconventional Josephson Effect in Hybrid Superconductor-Topological Insulator Devices
• Phenomenological Models for the Gap Anisotropy of Bi-2212 as Measured by ARPES
• Non-Abelian Topological Orders and Majorana Fermions in Spin-Singlet Superconductors
• Majorana Zero Modes in 1D Quantum Wires Without Long-Ranged Superconducting Order
• Proximity-induced high-temperature superconductivity in topological insulators Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3
• Fractional Quantum Hall Hierarchy and the Second Landau Level
• Experimental and materials considerations for the topological superconducting state in electron and hole doped semiconductors: searching for non-Abelian Majorana modes in 1D nanowires and 2D heterostructures
• Nesting between hole and electron pockets in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 (x=0-0.3) observed with angle-resolved photoemission

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Majorana Zero Modes and Topological Quantum Computation
• Majorana bound states and non-local spin correlations in a quantum wire on an unconventional superconductor
• Evidence for a New Excitation at the Interface Between a High-Tc Superconductor and a Topological Insulator
• Majorana edge states and topological properties in 1D/2D Rashba semiconductor proximity coupled to iron-based superconductor