中国物理B ›› 2019, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (6): 67403-067403.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/28/6/067403

• TOPICAL REVIEW—Topological superconductors • 上一篇    下一篇

Topological superconductivity in a Bi2Te3/NbSe2 heterostructure: A review

Hao Zheng(郑浩), Jin-Feng Jia(贾金锋)   

  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • 收稿日期:2019-01-11 修回日期:2019-04-15 出版日期:2019-06-05 发布日期:2019-06-05
  • 通讯作者: Jin-Feng Jia E-mail:jfjia@sjtu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674226, 11790313, 11521404, 11634009, U1632102, 11504230, 11674222, 11574202, 11674226, 11574201, U1632272, U1732273, U1732159, 11655002, 1674220, and 11447601), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFA0300403, 2016YFA0301003, 2016YFA0300500, and 2016YFA0300501), the Fund from the Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant Nos. 15JC402300 and 16DZ2260200), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDPB08-2), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB28000000).

Topological superconductivity in a Bi2Te3/NbSe2 heterostructure: A review

Hao Zheng(郑浩), Jin-Feng Jia(贾金锋)   

  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • Received:2019-01-11 Revised:2019-04-15 Online:2019-06-05 Published:2019-06-05
  • Contact: Jin-Feng Jia E-mail:jfjia@sjtu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674226, 11790313, 11521404, 11634009, U1632102, 11504230, 11674222, 11574202, 11674226, 11574201, U1632272, U1732273, U1732159, 11655002, 1674220, and 11447601), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFA0300403, 2016YFA0301003, 2016YFA0300500, and 2016YFA0300501), the Fund from the Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant Nos. 15JC402300 and 16DZ2260200), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDPB08-2), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB28000000).

摘要:

Topological superconductors carry globally protected gapless boundary excitations, which are robust under local perturbations, and thus exhibit both fundamental and applicational importance. An unconventional pairing with p-wave symmetry, such as a nontrivial topology in the superconductor's wavefunction, is required to generate a non-zero Berry phase. Until now, the Bi2Te3/2H-NbSe2 heterostructure has proven to be a practical way to realize a topological superconductor in real materials. This complex system, where odd numbers of spin-momentum locked Dirac cone surface states on the topological insulator Bi2Te3 become superconducting, induced by the proximate effect from the underlying s-wave superconductor 2H-NbSe2, realizes an effective two-dimensional (2D) spinless px + i py topological superconductor. In this review article, we summarize the recent experimental progress of the successful synthesis of Bi2Te3/2H-NbSe2 heterostructures using molecular beam epitaxy, determining the thickness limit of the heterostructure, detecting the long thought Majorana quasiparticle inside a magnetic vortex core state by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and demonstration of the unique spatial and spin properties of a Majorana zero mode.

关键词: topological insulator, topological superconductor, Majorana zero mode, scanning tunneling microscopy, molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract:

Topological superconductors carry globally protected gapless boundary excitations, which are robust under local perturbations, and thus exhibit both fundamental and applicational importance. An unconventional pairing with p-wave symmetry, such as a nontrivial topology in the superconductor's wavefunction, is required to generate a non-zero Berry phase. Until now, the Bi2Te3/2H-NbSe2 heterostructure has proven to be a practical way to realize a topological superconductor in real materials. This complex system, where odd numbers of spin-momentum locked Dirac cone surface states on the topological insulator Bi2Te3 become superconducting, induced by the proximate effect from the underlying s-wave superconductor 2H-NbSe2, realizes an effective two-dimensional (2D) spinless px + i py topological superconductor. In this review article, we summarize the recent experimental progress of the successful synthesis of Bi2Te3/2H-NbSe2 heterostructures using molecular beam epitaxy, determining the thickness limit of the heterostructure, detecting the long thought Majorana quasiparticle inside a magnetic vortex core state by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and demonstration of the unique spatial and spin properties of a Majorana zero mode.

Key words: topological insulator, topological superconductor, Majorana zero mode, scanning tunneling microscopy, molecular beam epitaxy

中图分类号:  (Proximity effects; Andreev reflection; SN and SNS junctions)

  • 74.45.+c
03.65.Vf (Phases: geometric; dynamic or topological) 74.25.Ha (Magnetic properties including vortex structures and related phenomena) 74.55.+v (Tunneling phenomena: single particle tunneling and STM)