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Generic New Platform for Topological Quantum Computation Using Semiconductor Heterostructures

Source: Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 040502 (2010); doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.040502

Published 27 January 2010

PACS
  • 03.67.Lx
    Quantum computation architectures and implementations
  • 71.10.Pm
    Fermions in reduced dimensions (condensed matter)
  • 74.45.+c
    Superconductor proximity effects; Andreev reflection; SN and SNS junctions
  • YEAR: 2010
PUBLICATION DATA
Publisher:
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Jay D. Sau,1 Roman M. Lutchyn,1 Sumanta Tewari,1,2 and S. Das Sarma1
1Condensed Matter Theory Center and Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-4111, USA
2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA
We show that a film of a semiconductor in which s-wave superconductivity and Zeeman splitting are induced by the proximity effect, supports zero-energy Majorana fermion modes in the ordinary vortex excitations. Since time-reversal symmetry is explicitly broken, the edge of the film constitutes a chiral Majorana wire. The heterostructure we propose—a semiconducting thin film sandwiched between an s-wave superconductor and a magnetic insulator—is a generic system which can be used as the platform for topological quantum computation by virtue of the existence of non-Abelian Majorana fermions. ©2010 The American Physical Society
History: Received 17 July 2009; published 27 January 2010
Permalink: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v104/e040502
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