Strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions in an anisotropically interacting Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice

Abstract

The energy structure of an anisotropically interacting Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice under triaxial strain is investigated. A numerical calculation shows that quantized states appear in the low-energy region, even when the anisotropy of the interaction is rather strong. Their energies are proportional to the square root of the quantum number and the quantized state at zero energy appears only on one sublattice. These findings indicate the emergence of the strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions, which is also confirmed by an analytical calculation. These Landau levels are stable, when the direction of triaxial strain is slightly changed from the bond direction.