Single-electron charge transfer into putative Majorana and trivial modes in individual vortices

Abstract

Majorana bound states are putative collective excitations in solids that exhibit the self-conjugate property of Majorana fermions - they are their own antiparticles. In iron-based superconductors, zero-energy states in vortices have been reported as potential Majorana bound states, but the evidence remains controversial. Here, we use scanning tunneling noise spectroscopy to study the tunneling process into vortex bound states in the conventional superconductor NbSe2, and in the putative Majorana platform FeTe0.55Se0.45. We find that tunneling into vortex bound states in both cases exhibits charge transfer of a single electron charge. Our data for the zero-energy bound states in FeTe0.55Se0.45 exclude the possibility of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states and are consistent with both Majorana bound states and trivial vortex bound states. Our results open an avenue for investigating the exotic states in vortex cores and for future Majorana devices, although further theoretical investigations involving charge dynamics and superconducting tips are necessary.

arXiv comment15 pages, 4 figures, and 16 pages for supplementary information

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Phenomenology of Majorana zero modes in full-shell hybrid nanowires
• Differential current noise as an identifier of Andreev bound states that induce nearly quantized conductance plateaus
• Searching for Majorana quasiparticles at vortex cores in iron-based superconductors
• Nonequilibrium finite frequency resonances in differential quantum noise driven by Majorana interference
• Why shot noise does not generally detect pairing in mesoscopic superconducting tunnel junctions
• Direct visualization of quasiparticle concentration around superconducting vortices
• Caroli-de Gennes-Matricon Analogs in Full-Shell Hybrid Nanowires
• Thermoelectric fluctuations of interfering Majorana bound states
• Excess photon-assisted noise of Majorana and Andreev bound states
• Scheme for braiding Majorana zero modes in vortices using an STT-matrix
• Non-Topological Edge-Localized Yu-Shiba-Rusinov States in CrBr${}_3$/NbSe${}_2$ Heterostructures