Dislocation Majorana bound states in iron-based superconductors

Lun-Hui Hu and Rui-Xing Zhang ()
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Lun-Hui Hu: The University of Tennessee
Rui-Xing Zhang: The University of Tennessee

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract We show that lattice dislocations of topological iron-based superconductors such as FeTe1−xSex 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 weak topology and surface magnetism that coexist with superconductivity in FeTe1−xSex, the combination of which naturally achieves 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± 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 FeTe1−xSex, LiFeAs, β-PdBi2, and heterostructures of bismuth, etc. Our work establishes lattice defects as a new venue to achieve high-temperature topological quantum information processing.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46618-9

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