Ballistic Majorana nanowire devices

Önder Gül*, H. Zhang, Jouri D.S. Bommer, Michiel W.A. de Moor, Diana Car, Sébastien R. Plissard, Erik P.A.M. Bakkers, Attila Geresdi, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Leo P. Kouwenhoven

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

254 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Majorana modes are zero-energy excitations of a topological superconductor that exhibit non-Abelian statistics1–3. Following proposals for their detection in a semiconductor nanowire coupled to an s-wave superconductor4,5, several tunnelling experiments reported characteristic Majorana signatures6–11. Reducing disorder has been a prime challenge for these experiments because disorder can mimic the zero-energy signatures of Majoranas12–16, and renders the topological properties inaccessible17–20. Here, we show characteristic Majorana signatures in InSb nanowire devices exhibiting clear ballistic transport properties. Application of a magnetic field and spatial control of carrier density using local gates generates a zero bias peak that is rigid over a large region in the parameter space of chemical potential, Zeeman energy and tunnel barrier potential. The reduction of disorder allows us to resolve separate regions in the parameter space with and without a zero bias peak, indicating topologically distinct phases. These observations are consistent with the Majorana theory in a ballistic system21, and exclude the known alternative explanations that invoke disorder12–16 or a nonuniform chemical potential22,23.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)192-197
Number of pages6
JournalNature Nanotechnology
Volume13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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