Superconducting proximity effect and majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator.
We study the proximity effect between an s-wave superconductor and the surface states of a strong topological insulator. The resulting two-dimensional state resembles a spinless px+ipy superconductor, but does not break time reversal symmetry. This state supports Majorana bound states at vortices. We show that linear junctions between superconductors mediated by the topological insulator form a nonchiral one-dimensional wire for Majorana fermions, and that circuits formed from these junctions provide a method for creating, manipulating, and fusing Majorana bound states.
Fu
Liang
L
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Kane
C L
CL