I mentioned this a while back on the possible discovery of Majorna fermions in a solid state system. While the paper has appeared earlier, it has now officially been published by Science.
v.336, p.1003 (2012).
Abstract: Majorana fermions are particles identical to their own antiparticles.
They have been theoretically predicted to exist in topological
superconductors. Here, we report electrical
measurements on indium antimonide nanowires contacted with one normal
(gold) and
one superconducting (niobium titanium nitride)
electrode. Gate voltages vary electron density and define a tunnel
barrier
between normal and superconducting contacts. In
the presence of magnetic fields on the order of 100 millitesla, we
observe
bound, midgap states at zero bias voltage. These
bound states remain fixed to zero bias, even when magnetic fields and
gate
voltages are changed over considerable ranges.
Our observations support the hypothesis of Majorana fermions in
nanowires coupled
to superconductors.
I'm sure they'll continue to have a better experiment to nail this down even more.
Zz.
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