1. Spin-Polarized Majorana Zero Modes in Proximitized Superconducting Penta-Silicene Nanoribbons
- Author
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Ribeiro, R. C. Bento, Correa, J. H., Ricco, L. S., Shelykh, I. A., Continentino, M. A., Seridonio, A. C., Minissale, M., Lay, G. L., and Figueira, M. S.
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics - Abstract
We theoretically investigate the possibility of obtaining Majorana zero modes (MZMs) in penta-silicene nanoribbons (p-SiNRs) with induced \textit{p}-wave superconductivity. The model explicitly considers an external magnetic field perpendicularly applied to the nanoribbon plane, as well as an extrinsic Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC), in addition to the first nearest neighbor hopping term and \textit{p}-wave superconducting pairing. By analyzing the dispersion relation profiles, we observe the successive closing and reopening of the induced superconducting gap with a single spin component, indicating a spin-polarized topological phase transition (TPT). Correspondingly, the plots of the energy spectrum versus the chemical potential reveal the existence of zero-energy states with a preferential spin orientation characterized by nonoverlapping wave functions localized at opposite ends of the superconducting p-SiNRs. These findings strongly suggest the emergence of topologically protected, spin-polarized MZMs at the ends of the p-SiNRs with induced \textit{p}-wave superconducting pairing, which can be realized by proximitizing the nanoribbon with an \textit{s}-wave superconductor, such as lead. The proposal paves the way for silicene-based Majorana devices hosting multiple MZMs with a well-defined spin orientation, with possible applications in fault-tolerant quantum computing platforms and Majorana spintronics., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures
- Published
- 2023