With the recent discovery of the quantum anomalous Hall insulator (QAHI), which exhibits the conductive quantum Hall edge states without external magnetic field, it becomes possible to create a topological superconductor (SC) by introducing superconductivity into these edge states. In this case, 2 distinct topological superconducting phases with 1 or 2 chiral Majorana edge modes were theoretically predicted, characterized by Chern numbers (N) of 1 and 2, respectively. We present spectroscopic evidence from Andreev reflection experiments for the presence of chiral Majorana modes in an Nb/(CrBiSb)Te heterostructure with distinct signatures attributed to 2 different topological superconducting phases. The results are in qualitatively good agreement with the theoretical predictions.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6955289 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910967117 | DOI Listing |
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Article Synopsis
- Thin films of ferromagnetic topological insulators can achieve the quantum anomalous Hall effect without needing an external magnetic field.
- Researchers demonstrated crossed Andreev reflection in a system where a superconducting Nb electrode interacts with a chiral edge state, indicating superconducting pair formation.
- Their findings suggest a significant link between superconductivity and chiral edge states, paving the way for further exploration of topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes.
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