Majorana bound states in encapsulated bilayer graphene

Abstract

The search for robust topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states continues, exploring both one-dimensional (1D) systems such as semiconducting nanowires and two-dimensional (2D) platforms. In this work we study a 2D approach based on graphene bilayers encapsulated in transition metal dichalcogenides that, unlike previous proposals involving the Quantum Hall regime in graphene, requires weaker magnetic fields and does not rely on interactions. The encapsulation induces strong spin-orbit coupling on the graphene bilayer, which opens a sizeable gap and stabilizes fragile pairs of helical edge states. We show that, when subject to an in-plane Zeeman field, armchair edges can be transformed into p-wave one-dimensional topological superconductors by contacting them laterally with conventional superconductors. We demonstrate the emergence of Majorana bound states (MBSs) at the sample corners of crystallographically perfect flakes, belonging either to the D or the BDI symmetry classes depending on parameters. We compute the phase diagram, the resilience of MBSs against imperfections, and their manifestation as a 4$\pi$-periodic effect in Josephson junction geometries, all suggesting the existence of a topological phase within experimental reach.

arXiv comment9 pages, 7 figures. Final version with an extra appendix

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• Majorana nanowires for topological quantum computation
• Supercurrent mediated by helical edge modes in bilayer graphene
• Moire-enabled topological superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene
• Stabilizing the inverted phase of a WSe${}_2$/BLG/WSe${}_2$ heterostructure via hydrostatic pressure
• Mirror-protected Majorana zero modes in $f$-wave multilayer graphene superconductors
• Phase transitions in quantum dot-Majorana zero mode coupling systems
• Few-body precursors of topological frustration
• Confinement-induced Majorana modes in a nodal topological superconductor
• Anisotropic supercurrent suppression and revivals in a graphene-based Josephson junction under in-plane magnetic fields
• Limits of Thermal Conductance Quantization in Chiral Topological Josephson Junctions