Magnetic-Free Superconducting Vortices in Physics

Researchers have detected and manipulated quantum anomalous vortices (QAVs) in the iron-based superconductor Fe(Se,Te) that form in the absence of a magnetic field and could theoretically support non-Abelian anyons known as Majorana zero modes. QAVs are formed by isolated magnetic impurities inserted into the superconductor that break the material’s time-reversal symmetry and locally suppress the strength of the electron-pairing interaction responsible for superconductivity. The members of a QAV-antivortex pair have opposite vorticities such that they do not repel each other, unlike the Abrikosov vortices seen in conventional superconductors.