title: Evolution of Density of States and a Spin-Resolved Checkerboard-Type Pattern Associated with the Majorana Bound State.
abstract: In terms of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes approach, we investigate the Majorana bound state (MBS) in a vortex of proximity-induced superconductivity on the surface of a topological insulator. Mapping out the local density of states (LDOS) of quasiparticle excitations as a function of energy and distance from the vortex center, it is found that the spectral distribution evolves from a V shape to a Y shape with the emergence of a MBS upon variation of the chemical potential, consistent with the STM/STS measurement in a very recent experiment [Xu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 017001 (2015)] on a Bi(2)Te(3) thin layer on the top of NbSe(2). Moreover, we demonstrate that there is a checkerboard-type pattern in the relative LDOS between the spin-up and -down channels, where the quantum mechanical wave function of the MBS manifests itself clearly as a single quantum state. Therefore, a spin-resolved STM/STS technique is expected to be able to provide phase-sensitive evidence for a MBS in the vortex core of a topological superconductor.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuto
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu