• DOI:10.1126/science.1222360
• Corpus ID: 18447180

Signatures of Majorana Fermions in Hybrid Superconductor-Semiconductor Nanowire Devices

@article{Mourik2012SignaturesOM,
  title={Signatures of Majorana Fermions in Hybrid Superconductor-Semiconductor Nanowire Devices},
  author={Vincent Mourik and Kun Zuo and Sergey M. Frolov and S{\'e}bastien R. Plissard and Erik P.A.M. Bakkers and Leo P Kouwenhoven},
  journal={Science},
  year={2012},
  volume={336},
  pages={1003 - 1007}
}

• V. Mourik, K. Zuo, +3 authors L. Kouwenhoven
• Published 12 April 2012
• Physics
• Science

Majoranas Arrive When a negatively charged electron meets a positron—its positively charged antiparticle—they annihilate each other in a flash of gamma rays. A Majorana fermion, on the other hand, is a neutral particle, which is its own antiparticle. No sightings of a Majorana have been reported in the elementary particle world, but recently they have been proposed to exist in solid-state systems and suggested to be of interest as a quantum computing platform. Mourik et al. (p. 1003, published online 12 April; see the cover; see the Perspective by Brouwer) set up a semiconductor nanowire contacted on each end by a normal and a superconducting electrode that revealed evidence of Majorana fermions. Theoretically predicted particles that double as their own antiparticles emerge in a superconductor-coupled indium antimonide nanowire. Majorana fermions are particles identical to their own antiparticles. They have been theoretically predicted to exist in topological superconductors. Here, we report electrical measurements on indium antimonide nanowires contacted with one normal (gold) and one superconducting (niobium titanium nitride) electrode. Gate voltages vary electron density and define a tunnel barrier between normal and superconducting contacts. In the presence of magnetic fields on the order of 100 millitesla, we observe bound, midgap states at zero bias voltage. These bound states remain fixed to zero bias, even when magnetic fields and gate voltages are changed over considerable ranges. Our observations support the hypothesis of Majorana fermions in nanowires coupled to superconductors.