Majorana modes in emergent-wire phases of helical and cycloidal magnet-superconductor hybrids

Stefan Rex, Igor V. Gornyi, and Alexander D. Mirlin
Phys. Rev. B 102, 224501 – Published 1 December 2020

Abstract

Noncollinear magnetism opens exciting possibilities to generate topological superconductivity. Here, we focus on helical and cycloidal magnetic textures in magnet-superconductor hybrid structures in a background magnetic field. We demonstrate that this system can enter a topological phase which can be understood as a set of parallel topological wires. We explore and confirm this idea in depth with three different approaches: a continuum model, a tight-binding model based on the magnetic unit cell, and exact diagonalization on a finite two-dimensional lattice. The key signature of this topological state is the presence of Majorana bound states at certain disclination defects in the magnetic texture. Based on the C2 symmetry imposed by the helical or cycloidal texture, we employ the theory of topological crystalline superconductors with rotation invariants to obtain the Majorana parity at disclinations. Furthermore, we consider a 90-deg helimagnet domain wall, which is formed by a string of alternating disclinations. We discuss how the resulting chain of disclination bound states hybridizes into two chiral modes with different velocities. We suggest that hybrid systems of chiral magnets and superconductors are capable of hosting Majorana modes in various spatial configurations with potentially far less nanoengineering than in, e.g., semiconductor wires.

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  • Received 11 September 2020
  • Revised 11 November 2020
  • Accepted 12 November 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.224501

©2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Stefan Rex1,2, Igor V. Gornyi1,2,3, and Alexander D. Mirlin1,2,4,5

  • 1Institute for Quantum Materials and Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • 2Institut für Theorie der Kondensierten Materie, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • 3Ioffe Institute, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
  • 4L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics RAS, 119334 Moscow, Russia
  • 5Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, 188300 St. Petersburg, Russia

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Issue

Vol. 102, Iss. 22 — 1 December 2020

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