Atomic-scale interface engineering of Majorana edge modes in a 2D magnet-superconductor hybrid system

Abstract

Topological superconductors are predicted to harbor exotic boundary states—Majorana zero-energy modes—whose non-Abelian braiding statistics present a new paradigm for the realization of topological quantum computing. Using low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy, here, we report on the direct real-space visualization of chiral Majorana edge states in a monolayer topological superconductor, a prototypical magnet-superconductor hybrid system composed of nanoscale Fe islands of monoatomic height on a Re(0001)-O(2 × 1) surface. In particular, we demonstrate that interface engineering by an atomically thin oxide layer is crucial for driving the hybrid system into a topologically nontrivial state as confirmed by theoretical calculations of the topological invariant, the Chern number.