title: Generic new platform for topological quantum computation using semiconductor heterostructures.
abstract: We show that a film of a semiconductor in which s-wave superconductivity and Zeeman splitting are induced by the proximity effect, supports zero-energy Majorana fermion modes in the ordinary vortex excitations. Since time-reversal symmetry is explicitly broken, the edge of the film constitutes a chiral Majorana wire. The heterostructure we propose-a semiconducting thin film sandwiched between an s-wave superconductor and a magnetic insulator-is a generic system which can be used as the platform for topological quantum computation by virtue of the existence of non-Abelian Majorana fermions.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Theory Center and Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-4111, USA.
authors.forename: Jay D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sau
authors.forename: Roman M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lutchyn
authors.forename: Sumanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tewari
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das Sarma