Ordered and tunable Majorana-zero-mode lattice in naturally strained LiFeAs

Meng Li, Geng Li, Lu Cao, Xingtai Zhou, Xiancheng Wang, Changqing Jin, Ching-Kai Chiu, Stephen J. Pennycook, Ziqiang Wang () and Hong-Jun Gao ()
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Meng Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Geng Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lu Cao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xingtai Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiancheng Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Changqing Jin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ching-Kai Chiu: RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS)
Stephen J. Pennycook: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ziqiang Wang: Boston College
Hong-Jun Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2022, vol. 606, issue 7916, 890-895

Abstract: Abstract Majorana zero modes (MZMs) obey non-Abelian statistics and are considered building blocks for constructing topological qubits1,2. Iron-based superconductors with topological bandstructures have emerged as promising hosting materials, because isolated candidate MZMs in the quantum limit have been observed inside the topological vortex cores3–9. However, these materials suffer from issues related to alloying induced disorder, uncontrolled vortex lattices10–13 and a low yield of topological vortices5–8. Here we report the formation of an ordered and tunable MZM lattice in naturally strained stoichiometric LiFeAs by scanning tunnelling microscopy/spectroscopy. We observe biaxial charge density wave (CDW) stripes along the Fe–Fe and As–As directions in the strained regions. The vortices are pinned on the CDW stripes in the As–As direction and form an ordered lattice. We detect that more than 90 per cent of the vortices are topological and possess the characteristics of isolated MZMs at the vortex centre, forming an ordered MZM lattice with the density and the geometry tunable by an external magnetic field. Notably, with decreasing the spacing of neighbouring vortices, the MZMs start to couple with each other. Our findings provide a pathway towards tunable and ordered MZM lattices as a platform for future topological quantum computation.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04744-8

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