An iron home for Majoranas: The surface of the iron-based superconductor FeTe _0.55 Se _0.45 has been identified as a potential topological superconductor and is expected to host exotic quasiparticles called the Majorana bound states (MBSs). Wang et al. looked for signatures of MBSs in this material by using scanning tunneling spectroscopy on the vortex cores formed by the application of a magnetic field. In addition to conventional states, they observed the characteristic zero-bias peaks associated with MBSs and were able to distinguish between the two, owing to the favorable ratios of energy scales in the system. Science , this issue p. 333

Reaching a conductance plateau: The surface of the iron-based superconductor FeTe _0.55 Se _0.45 satisfies the necessary conditions to support topological superconductivity. Under the application of a magnetic field, vortices with zero-bias peaks that are consistent with Majorana bound states have been observed. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, Zhu et al. studied the conductance of these states as the tip-sample distance was reduced (see the Perspective by Sau). The researchers found that the value of the conductance increased and eventually saturated. For one of the vortices they studied, the conductance reached a quantized value that is characteristic of the Majorana bound states. Science , this issue p. 189 ; see also p. 145

Iron-chalcogenide superconductors have emerged as a promising Majorana platform for topological quantum computation. By combining topological band and superconductivity in a single material, they provide significant advantage to realize isolated Majorana zero modes. However, iron-chalcogenide superconductors, especially Fe(Te,Se), suffer from strong inhomogeneity which may hamper their practical application. In addition, some iron-pnictide superconductors have been demonstrated to have topological surface states, yet no Majorana zero mode has been observed inside their vortices, raising a question of universality about this new Majorana platform. In this work, through angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurement, we identify Dirac surface states and Majorana zero modes, respectively, for the first time in an iron-pnictide superconductor, CaKFe₄As₄. More strikingly, the multiple vortex bound states with integer-quantization sequences can be accurately reproduced by our model calculation, firmly establishing Majorana nature of the zero mode.

The iron-based superconductor is emerging as a promising platform for Majorana zero mode, which can be used to implement topological quantum computation. One of the most significant advances of this platform is the appearance of large vortex level spacing that strongly protects Majorana zero mode from other low-lying quasiparticles. Despite the advantages in the context of physics research, the inhomogeneity of various aspects hampers the practical construction of topological qubits in the compounds studied so far. Here we show that the stoichiometric superconductor LiFeAs is a good candidate to overcome this obstacle. By using scanning tunneling microscopy, we discover that the Majorana zero modes, which are absent on the natural clean surface, can appear in vortices influenced by native impurities. Our detailed analysis reveals a new mechanism for the emergence of those Majorana zero modes, i.e. native tuning of bulk Dirac fermions. The discovery of Majorana zero modes in this homogeneous material, with a promise of tunability, offers an ideal material platform for manipulating and braiding Majorana zero modes, pushing one step forward towards topological quantum computation.