Disorder-independent topological superconductor realized by antiferromagnetic Rashba nanowires with superconducting proximity effect

• Published in: European physical journal plus Vol. 137; no. 8; p. 935
• Main Authors: He, Jing, Li, Jia-Rui, Zhang, Lian-Lian, Zhang, Shu-Feng, Gong, Wei-Jiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 18.08.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antiferromagnetism; Applied and Technical Physics; Atomic; Complex Systems; Condensed Matter Physics; Couplings; Disorders; Electrons; Energy; Investigations; Magnetic fields; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Molecular; Nanowires; Optical and Plasma Physics; Parameters; Phase transitions; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Proximity effect (electricity); Quantum computing; Quantum dots; Regular Article; Superconductivity; Theoretical; Topological superconductors
• ISSN: 2190-5444; 2190-5444
• DOI: 10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03072-0

We theoretically investigate the topological phase transition of the antiferromagnetic Rashba nanowire, by considering it to be subject to the superconducting proximity effect and longitudinal magnetic field. We see that the antiferromagnetic order enriches the topological superconducting phase transition and causes Majorana bound states (MBSs) to form in more parameter regions, compared to the normal Rashba nanowire. Even in the absence of magnetic field, antiferromagnetic order can also induce the formation of MBSs through introducing the alternative phase transition manner. More importantly, the antiferromagnetic-induced MBSs can be less influenced by the perturbation of parameter disorders, including the intersite couplings and AFM order of the nanowire. Their signature is still robust when the MBSs contributed by the uniform magnetic field are destroyed by disorders. We then believe that the findings in this work can be helpful in utilizing antiferromagnetic nanowires to experimentally achieve the MBSs for future topological quantum computation.