Topological superconducting vortex from trivial electronic bands

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 640
• Main Authors: Hu, Lun-Hui, Zhang, Rui-Xing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 06.02.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/766/119/1003; 639/766/119/2792; Elementary excitations; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Solid state; Superconductivity; Topological superconductors; Topology; Vortices; Wave functions
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36347-w

Superconducting vortices are promising traps to confine non-Abelian Majorana quasi-particles. It has been widely believed that bulk-state topology, of either normal-state or superconducting ground-state wavefunctions, is crucial for enabling Majorana zero modes in solid-state systems. This common belief has shaped two major search directions for Majorana modes, in either intrinsic topological superconductors or trivially superconducting topological materials. Here we show that Majorana-carrying superconducting vortex is not exclusive to bulk-state topology, but can arise from topologically trivial quantum materials as well. We predict that the trivial bands in superconducting HgTe-class materials are responsible for inducing anomalous vortex topological physics that goes beyond any existing theoretical paradigms. A feasible scheme of strain-controlled Majorana engineering and experimental signatures for vortex Majorana modes are also discussed. Our work provides new guidelines for vortex-based Majorana search in general superconductors. It is widely believed that bulk-state topology is crucial for enabling Majorana zero modes in solid-state systems. Here, the authors predict that superconducting vortices containing Majorana zero modes can arise from topologically-trivial electronic bands, expanding the pool of materials which may host such phenomena.