Majorana fermions of a two-dimensional p(x)+ip(y) superconductor

Journal article

To investigate Majorana fermionic excitations of a px +i py superconductor, the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation is solved on a sphere for two cases: (i) a vortex-antivortex pair at opposite poles and (ii) an edge near the south pole and an antivortex at the north pole. The vortex cores support a state of two Majorana fermions, the energy of which decreases exponentially with the radius of the sphere, independently of a moderate disorder potential. The tunneling conductance of an electron into the superconductor near the position of a vortex is computed for finite temperature and is compared to the case of an s -wave superconductor. The zero-bias conductance peak of the antivortex is half that of the vortex. This effect can be used as a probe of the order-parameter symmetry and as a direct measurement of the Majorana fermion. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Authors: Kraus, Y; Auerbach, A; Fertig, H; Simon, S

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Volume: 79
• Issue: 13
• Publication date: 2009-04-01
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.134515
• EISSN: 1550-235X
• ISSN: 1098-0121
• Language: English
• Keywords: electrical conductivity; fermion systems; mixed state; superconductive tunnelling