Spin-Polarized Majorana Zero Modes in Proximitized Superconducting Penta-Silicene Nanoribbons

R. C. Bento Ribeiro; J. H. Correa; L. S. Ricco; I. A. Shelykh; M. A. Continentino; A. C. Seridonio; M. Minissale; G. L. Lay; M. S. Figueira

arXiv · 2307.03185

Spin-Polarized Majorana Zero Modes in Proximitized Superconducting Penta-Silicene Nanoribbons

R. C. Bento Ribeiro·J. H. Correa·L. S. Ricco·I. A. Shelykh·M. A. Continentino·A. C. Seridonio·M. Minissale·G. L. Lay·M. S. Figueira

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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.

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R. C. Bento Ribeiro, J. H. Correa, L. S. Ricco, I. A. Shelykh, M. A. Continentino, A. C. Seridonio, M. Minissale, G. L. Lay, M. S. Figueira. 2023-07-06. Spin-Polarized Majorana Zero Modes in Proximitized Superconducting Penta-Silicene Nanoribbons. https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.03185

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