Jin-Peng Xu

The Coexistence of Superconductivity and Topological Order in the Bi2Se3 Thin Films

All Set for Majoranas When put in the proximity of a superconductor, topological insulators (TIs) are expected to support Majorana fermions, exotic particles that are their own antiparticles. For this to be realized, the interface between the TI and superconductor layers has to be atomically sharp but electronically transparent. Wang et al. (p. 52, published online 15 March) fabricated this heterostructure by growing a film of the TI material Bi2Se3 on the superconductor NbSe2 covered with a Bi bilayer. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy revealed a superconducting gap on the TI surface of the heterostructure with varying thickness of the Bi2Se3 film. This coexistence of superconductivity and topological order should now allow observation of exotic phenomena such as Majorana fermions. A thin layer of a topological insulator grown on the surface of a superconductor is shown to acquire a superconducting gap. Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are characterized by their nontrivial surface states, in which electrons have their spin locked at a right angle to their momentum under the protection of time-reversal symmetry. The topologically ordered phase in TIs does not break any symmetry. The interplay between topological order and symmetry breaking, such as that observed in superconductivity, can lead to new quantum phenomena and devices. We fabricated a superconducting TI/superconductor heterostructure by growing dibismuth triselenide (Bi2Se3) thin films on superconductor niobium diselenide substrate. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we observed the superconducting gap at the Bi2Se3 surface in the regime of Bi2Se3 film thickness where topological surface states form. This observation lays the groundwork for experimentally realizing Majorana fermions in condensed matter physics.

Experimental Detection of a Majorana Mode in the core of a Magnetic Vortex inside a Topological Insulator-Superconductor Bi 2 Te 3 / NbSe 2 Heterostructure

Majorana fermions have been intensively studied in recent years for their importance to both fundamental science and potential applications in topological quantum computing1,2. Majorana fermions are predicted to exist in a vortex core of superconducting topological insulators3. However, they are extremely difficult to be distinguished experimentally from other quasiparticle states for the tiny energy difference between Majorana fermions and these states, which is beyond the energy resolution of most available techniques. Here, we overcome the problem by systematically investigating the spatial profile of the Majorana mode and the bound quasiparticle states within a vortex in Bi2Te3/NbSe2. While the zero bias peak in local conductance splits right off the vortex center in conventional superconductors, it splits off at a finite distance ~20nm away from the vortex center in Bi2Te3/NbSe2, primarily due to the Majorana fermion zero mode. While the Majorana mode is destroyed by reducing the distance between vortices, the zero bias peak splits as a conventional superconductor again. This work provides strong evidences of Majorana fermions and also suggests a possible route to manipulating them.

Artificial Topological Superconductor by the Proximity Effect

Topological superconductors (TSCs) have a full gap in the bulk and gapless surface states consisting of Majorana fermions, which have potential applications in fault-tolerant topological quantum computation. Because TSCs are very rare in nature, an alternative way to study the TSC is to artificially introduce superconductivity into the surface states of a topological insulator (TI) through proximity effect (PE)1-4. Here we report the first experimental realization of the PE induced TSC in Bi2Te3/NbSe2 thin films as demonstrated by the density of states probed using scanning tunneling microscope. We observe Abrikosov vortices and lower energy bound states on the surface of topological insulator and the dependence of superconducting coherence length on the film thickness and magnetic field, which are attributed to the superconductivity in the topological surface states. This work demonstrates the practical feasibility of fabricating a TSC with individual Majorana fermions inside superconducting vortex as predicted in theory and accomplishes the pre-requisite step towards searching for Majorana fermions in the PE induced TSCs.

Large magnetic moment of gadolinium substituted topological insulator: Bi1.98Gd0.02Se3

The crystal structure, electronic, and magnetic properties of Gadolinium (Gd) substituted Bi2Se3—represented by Bi1.98Gd0.02Se3—were investigated systematically by scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and superconducting quantum interference device. Gd dopants with valence of 3+ were mainly found to substitute Bi atoms. Each Gd3+ ion has a magnetic moment as large as ∼6.9μB in the bulk paramagnetic state.

Interface structure of a topological insulator/superconductor heterostructure

The construction of topological insulator/superconductor heterostructures attracts a lot of interest because of its potential to realize artificial topological superconductors hosting Majorana fermions. By means of molecular beam epitaxy, high-quality thin films of a topological insulator, Bi2Se3, can be grown on a superconductor substrate, 2H-NbSe2(0001), with an atomically smooth interface. To ascertain the atomic structure of the Bi2Se3/NbSe2 heterostructure, the initial growth stage was investigated with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In the growth process, we found that Bi atoms were first deposited to form a single Bi(110) bilayer, which is revealed to stand nearly freely on the NbSe2 surface and exhibits various moire patterns. In the formation of the first quintuple layer of Bi2Se3 by co-depositing Bi and Se atoms, the Bi(110) bilayer transits to a BiSe interfacial layer, which effectively reduces the large lattice mismatch between Bi2Se3 and NbSe2 . Based on atomic-resolution STM images and first-principles calculations, a NaCl-type structural model is proposed for the BiSe interfacial layer, on which Bi2Se3 thin films grow well in a layer-by-layer mode.

One-dimensional phosphorus chain and two-dimensional blue phosphorene grown on Au(111) by molecular-beam epitaxy

Single layer (SL) phosphorus (phosphorene) has drawn considerable research attention recently as a two-dimensional (2D) material for application promises. It is a semiconductor showing superior transport and optical properties. Few-layer or SL black phosphorus has been successfully isolated by exfoliation from bulk crystals and extensively studied thereof for its electronic and optical properties. Blue phosphorus (blueP), an allotrope of black phosphorus where atoms are arranged in a more flat atomic configuration, has been recently suggested by theory to exist in the SL form on some substrates. In this work, we report the formation of a blueP-like epilayer on Au(111) by molecular-beam epitaxy. In particular, we uncover by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) one-dimensional (1D) atomic chains at low coverage, which develop into more compact islands or patches of

Various atomic structures of monolayer silicene fabricated on Ag(111)

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Quantum Effects and Phase Tuning in Epitaxial Hexagonal and Monoclinic MoTe2 Monolayers

structure with increasing coverage before blueP-like islands nucleate and grow. We also note an interesting growth characteristic where the

Growth, stabilization and conversion of semi-metallic and semiconducting phases of MoTe2 monolayer by molecular-beam epitaxy

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Two-dimensional blue phosphorene grown on Au(111) by molecular-beam epitaxy

surface at intermediate coverage tends to phase-separate into locally low-coverage 1D chain and high-coverage blueP-like structures, respectively. This experiment thus not only lends a support of the recently proposed half-layer by half-layer (HLBHL) growth mechanism but also reveals the kinetic details of blueP growth processes.