Topological superconducting phase in high-Tc superconductor MgB2 with Dirac-nodal-line fermions

Abstract

Topological superconductors are an intriguing and elusive quantum phase, characterized by topologically protected gapless surface/edge states residing in a bulk superconducting gap, which hosts Majorana fermions. Unfortunately, all currently known topological superconductors have a very low transition temperature, limiting experimental measurements of Majorana fermions. Here we discover the existence of a topological Dirac-nodal-line state in a well-known conventional high-temperature superconductor, MgB2. First-principles calculations show that the Dirac-nodal-line structure exhibits a unique one-dimensional dispersive Dirac-nodal line, protected by both spatial-inversion and time-reversal symmetry, which connects the electron and hole Dirac states. Most importantly, we show that the topological superconducting phase can be realized with a conventional s-wave superconducting gap, evidenced by the topological edge mode of the MgB2 thin films showing chiral edge states. Our discovery may enable the experimental measurement of Majorana fermions at high temperature.

19 pages, 5 figures

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• Topological properties of non-centrosymmetric superconductors $T$Ir${}_2$B${}_2$ ($T$=Nb, Ta)
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• Towards an effective mass model for the quasi-1D magnesium diboride superconducting nanostructures
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