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Engineered platforms for topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes

Nature Reviews Materials volume 6, pages 944–958 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Among the major avenues that are being pursued for realizing quantum bits, the Majorana-based approach has been the most recent to be launched. It attempts to realize qubits that store quantum information in a topologically protected manner. The quantum information is protected by non-local storage in localized and well-separated Majorana zero modes, and manipulated by exploiting their non-abelian quantum statistics. Realizing these topological qubits is experimentally challenging, requiring superconductivity, helical electrons (created by spin–orbit coupling) and breaking of time-reversal symmetry to all cooperate in an uncomfortable alliance. Over the past decade, several candidate materials systems for realizing Majorana-based topological qubits have been explored, and there is accumulating, though still debated, evidence that zero modes are indeed being realized. This Review surveys the basic physical principles on which these approaches are based, the materials systems that are being developed and the current state of the field. We highlight both the progress that has been made and the challenges that still need to be overcome.

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Fig. 1: Two realizations of engineered topological superconductors based on semiconducting nanowires proximitized by conventional superconductors.
Fig. 2: Illustration of selected spectroscopic techniques for investigating MZMs.
Fig. 3: Realization of 1D topological superconductivity in superconductor–normal–superconductor Josephson junctions (N-stripes).
Fig. 4: Topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes in chains of magnetic adatoms on superconductors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Karsten Flensberg

  2. Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Felix von Oppen

  3. Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Ady Stern

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  1. Karsten Flensberg
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  2. Felix von Oppen
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  3. Ady Stern
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Flensberg, K., von Oppen, F. & Stern, A. Engineered platforms for topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes. Nat Rev Mater 6, 944–958 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00336-6

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