Majorana fermions in superconducting helical magnets

Abstract

In a variety of rare-earth-based compounds, singlet superconductivity coexists with helical magnetism. Here we demonstrate that surfaces of these systems should generically host a finite density of zero-energy Majorana modes. In the limit of vanishing disorder, these modes lead to a divergent contribution to zero-energy density of states and to zero-temperature entropy proportional to the sample surface area. When confined to a wire geometry, a discrete number of Majorana modes can be isolated. The relatively large characteristic energy scales for superconductivity and magnetism, compared to other proposals, as well as the lack of need for fine tuning, make helical magnetic superconducting compounds favorable for the observation and experimental investigation of Majorana fermions. © 2012 American Physical Society.