Dislocation Majorana Bound States in Iron-based Superconductors

Abstract

We show that lattice dislocations of topological iron-based superconductors such as FeTe${}_{1-x}$Se${}_x$ will intrinsically trap non-Abelian Majorana quasiparticles, in the absence of any external magnetic field. Our theory is motivated by the recent experimental observations of normal-state topology and surface magnetism that coexist with superconductivity in FeTe${}_{1-x}$Se${}_x$, the combination of which naturally evokes an emergent second-order topological superconductivity in a two-dimensional subsystem spanned by screw or edge dislocations. This exemplifies a new embedded higher-order topological phase in class D, where Majorana zero modes appear around the "corners" of a low-dimensional embedded subsystem, instead of those of the full crystal. A nested domain wall theory is developed to understand the origin of these defect Majorana zero modes. When the surface magnetism is absent, we further find that $s_{\pm }$ pairing symmetry itself is capable of inducing a different type of class-DIII embedded higher-order topology with defect-bound Majorana Kramers pairs. We also provide detailed discussions on the real-world material candidates for our proposals, including FeTe${}_{1-x}$Se${}_x$, LiFeAs, $\beta$-PdBi${}_2$, and heterostructures of bismuth, etc. Our work establishes lattice defects as a new venue to achieve high-temperature topological quantum information processing.

12 pages, 5 figures