July 2014

Journal

Spin-orbit-coupled quantum wires and Majorana fermions on zigzag edges of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides

By:
Chu, Rui-Lin; Liu, Gui-Bin; Yao, Wang; Xu, Xiaodong; Xiao, Di; Zhang, Chuanwei
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Page Number:
155317
Volume:
89
Issue Number:
n/a
Publication Date:
July 8, 2014

Abstract

Majoranafermions,quantumparticleswithnon-Abelianexchangestatistics,arenotonlyoffundamentalimportance,butalsobuildingblocksforfault-tolerantquantumcomputation.AlthoughcertainexperimentalbreakthroughsforobservingMajoranafermionshavebeenmaderecently,theirconclusivedetectionisstillchallengingduetothelackofpropermaterialpropertiesoftheunderlinedexperimentalsystems.HereweproposeaplatformforMajoranafermionsbasedonedgestatesofcertainnontopologicaltwo-dimensionalsemiconductorswithstrongspin-orbitcoupling,suchasmonolayergroup-VItransition-metaldichalcogenides(TMDs).Usingfirst-principlescalculationsandtight-bindingmodeling,weshowthatzigzagedgesofmonolayerTMDcanhostawellisolatedsingleedgebandwithstrongspin-orbit-couplingenergy.Combiningwithproximityinduceds-wavesuperconductivityandin-planemagneticfields,thezigzagedgesupportsrobusttopologicalMajoranaboundstatesattheedgeends,althoughthetwo-dimensionalbulkitselfisnontopological.