Mirror-protected Majorana zero modes in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>f</mml:mi></mml:math>-wave multilayer graphene superconductors
Inspired by recent experimental discoveries of superconductivity in multilayer graphene, we study models of $f$-wave superconductivity on the honeycomb lattice with arbitrary numbers of layers. For odd numbers of layers, these systems are topologically nontrivial, characterized by a mirror-projected winding number ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$. Along each mirror-preserving edge in armchair nanoribbons, there are two protected Majorana zero modes. These modes are present even if the sample is finite in both directions, such as in rectangular and hexagonal flakes. Crucially, zero modes can also be confined to vortex cores. Finally, we apply these models to twisted bilayer and trilayer systems, which also feature boundary-projected and vortex-confined zero modes. Since vortices are experimentally accessible by local scanning probes, our study suggests that superconducting multilayer graphene systems are promising platforms to create and manipulate Majorana zero modes.
Authors
- E. J. Melé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7140-5353)
- F. Guinea (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5915-5427)
- Võ Tiến Phong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3353-9873)
- Héctor Sainz-Cruz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4791-0143)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- IMDEA Nanoscience (ES)
- California University of Pennsylvania (US)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- Donostia International Physics Center (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Published
- 2024-09-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.110.l100501
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.34
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Comunidad de Madrid
- European Regional Development Fund