Mei-Xiao Wang

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.

Quasiparticle dynamics in reshaped helical Dirac cone of topological insulators

Topological insulators and graphene present two unique classes of materials, which are characterized by spin-polarized (helical) and nonpolarized Dirac cone band structures, respectively. The importance of many-body interactions that renormalize the linear bands near Dirac point in graphene has been well recognized and attracted much recent attention. However, renormalization of the helical Dirac point has not been observed in topological insulators. Here, we report the experimental observation of the renormalized quasiparticle spectrum with a skewed Dirac cone in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi2Te3 substrate from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. First-principles band calculations indicate that the quasiparticle spectra are likely associated with the hybridization between the extrinsic substrate-induced Dirac states of Bi bilayer and the intrinsic surface Dirac states of Bi2Te3 film at close energy proximity. Without such hybridization, only single-particle Dirac spectra are observed in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi2Se3, where the extrinsic Dirac states Bi bilayer and the intrinsic Dirac states of Bi2Se3 are well separated in energy. The possible origins of many-body interactions are discussed. Our findings provide a means to manipulate topological surface states.

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.

The fate of the 2√3 × 2√3R(30°) silicene phase on Ag(111)

Silicon atoms deposited on Ag(111) produce various single layer silicene sheets with different buckling patterns and periodicities. Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that one of the silicene sheets, the hypothetical √7 × √7 silicene structure, on 2√3 × 2√3 Ag(111), is inherently highly defective and displays no long-range order. Moreover, Auger and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal its sudden death, to end, in a dynamic fating process at ∼300 °C. This result clarifies the real nature of the 2√3 × 2√3R(30°) silicene phase and thus helps to understand the diversity of the silicene sheets grown on Ag(111).

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.

Coexistence of Topological Edge State and Superconductivity in Bismuth Ultrathin Film

Ultrathin freestanding bismuth film is theoretically predicted to be one kind of two-dimensional topological insulators. Experimentally, the topological nature of bismuth strongly depends on the situations of the Bi films. Film thickness and interaction with the substrate often change the topological properties of Bi films. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy and first-principle calculation, the properties of Bi(111) ultrathin film grown on the NbSe2 superconducting substrate have been studied. We find the band structures of the ultrathin film is quasi-freestanding, and one-dimensional edge state exists on Bi(111) film as thin as three bilayers. Superconductivity is also detected on different layers of the film and the pairing potential exhibits an exponential decay with the layer thicknesses. Thus, the topological edge state can coexist with superconductivity, which makes the system a promising platform for exploring Majorana Fermions.