Altermagnetism-Induced Bogoliubov Fermi Surfaces Form Topological Superconductivity

We propose a novel type of topological superconductivity based on Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces (BFSs) in an altermagnetic topological insulator proximitized by an s-wave superconductor. The 3D altermagnetic topological insulator is characterized by zero-energy surface states in bulk nodal-ring phases and anisotropically shifted surface Dirac cones in topological insulating phases. The altermagnetic order in combination with superconductivity gives rise to highly anisotropic superconducting gaps with crystal-facet-dependent BFSs at the physical boundaries. These particular BFSs provide distinct platforms to realize topological superconductivity. We propose a quasi-1D nanowire in which the anisotropic BFSs experience topological phase transitions due to quantum confinement leading to Majorana zero modes (MZMs) at its ends. We further consider vortex phase transitions in the superconducting altermagnetic topological insulators. Remarkably, we find that the altermagnetic order allows us to transit between two distinct type of MZMs, one type is located at the vortex line, while the other type is located at the physical boundaries. Our work paves a new avenue utilizing altermagnetism-induced BFSs to engineer topological superconductivity through crystal anisotropy and quantum confinement.