Searching for topological superconductors in bismuthides

The search for Majorana fermions in solid state system is one of paramount research targets in physics today. By growing bismuth-containing intermetallic films with state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy, we have demonstrated the topological superconducting phase on some of these binaries. Unusual zero bias conductance peaks, possibly from the Majorana zero modes, are also revealed by directly probing quasiparticle density of states within the vortex cores under magnetic field with a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. Our findings has pointed to a novel avenue for searching topological pairing states in ordinary superconductors with heavy elements.