Majorana fermion (MF), an exotic particle that is identical to its own antiparticle, was recently found in solid matter as a quasiparticle excitation, the Majorana zero mode (MZM), in the vortex of an artificial t...Majorana fermion (MF), an exotic particle that is identical to its own antiparticle, was recently found in solid matter as a quasiparticle excitation, the Majorana zero mode (MZM), in the vortex of an artificial topological superconductor (TSC). This artificial TSC, first proposed by Fu and Kane in 2008, is a heterostructure made of a topological insulator BiETe3 and an s-wave superconductor NbSe2. This paper will briefly review the experimental progresses based on the Bi2Te3/NbSe2 heterostructure. All evidences are self-consistent and reveal that the MZM exists in the center of vortex. Those experimental results are also supported by theory. This finding is a milestone in the research ofMajorana fermions in solid state physics and a starting point of MZM's application in topological quantum computation.展开更多
文摘Majorana fermion (MF), an exotic particle that is identical to its own antiparticle, was recently found in solid matter as a quasiparticle excitation, the Majorana zero mode (MZM), in the vortex of an artificial topological superconductor (TSC). This artificial TSC, first proposed by Fu and Kane in 2008, is a heterostructure made of a topological insulator BiETe3 and an s-wave superconductor NbSe2. This paper will briefly review the experimental progresses based on the Bi2Te3/NbSe2 heterostructure. All evidences are self-consistent and reveal that the MZM exists in the center of vortex. Those experimental results are also supported by theory. This finding is a milestone in the research ofMajorana fermions in solid state physics and a starting point of MZM's application in topological quantum computation.