Inducing odd-frequency triplet superconducting correlations in a normal metal

This work discusses theoretically the interplay between the superconducting and ferromagnetic proximity effects, in a diffusive normal metal strip in contact with a superconductor and a non-uniformly magnetized ferromagnetic insulator. The quasiparticle density of states of the normal metal shows clear qualitative signatures of triplet correlations with spin one (TCS1). When one goes away from the superconduting contact, TCS1 focus at zero energy under the form of a peak surrounded by dips, which show a typical spatial scaling behavior. This behavior can coexist with a focusing of singlet correlations and triplet correlations with spin zero at finite but subgap energies. The simultaneous observation of both effects would enable an unambigous characterization of TCS1.Comment: To appear in Physical Review Letter

Probing coherent Cooper pair splitting with cavity photons

This work discusses theoretically the behavior of a microwave cavity and a Cooper pair beam splitter (CPS) coupled non-resonantly. The cavity frequency pull is modified when the CPS is resonant with a microwave excitation. This provides a direct way to probe the coherence of the Cooper pair splitting process. More precisely, the cavity frequency pull displays an anticrossing whose specificities can be attributed unambiguously to coherent Cooper pair injection. This work illustrates that microwave cavities represent a powerful tool to investigate current transport in complex nanocircuits.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Conductance and current noise of a superconductor/ferromagnet quantum point contact

We study the conductance and current noise of a superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) single channel Quantum Point Contact (QPC) as a function of the QPC bias voltage, using a scattering approach. We show that the Spin-Dependence of Interfacial Phase Shifts (SDIPS) acquired by electrons upon scattering by the QPC can strongly modify these signals. For a weakly transparent contact, the SDIPS induces sub-gap resonances in the conductance and differential Fano factor curves of the QPC. For high transparencies, these resonances are smoothed, but the shape of the signals remain extremely sensitive to the SDIPS. We show that noise measurements could help to gain more information on the device, e.g. in cases where the SDIPS modifies qualitatively the differential Fano factor of the QPC but not the conductance.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

A spin quantum bit with ferromagnetic contacts for circuit QED

We theoretically propose a scheme for a spin quantum bit based on a double quantum dot contacted to ferromagnetic elements. Interface exchange effects enable an all electric manipulation of the spin and a switchable strong coupling to a superconducting coplanar waveguide cavity. Our setup does not rely on any specific band structure and can in principle be realized with many different types of nanoconductors. This allows to envision on-chip single spin manipulation and read-out using cavity QED techniques

Mesoscopic admittance of a double quantum dot

We calculate the mesoscopic admittance $G(\omega)$ of a double quantum dot (DQD),which can be measured directly using microwave techniques. This quantity reveals spectroscopic information on the DQD and is also directly sensitive to a Pauli spin blockade effect. We then discuss the problem of a DQD coupled to a high quality photonic resonator. When the photon correlation functions can be developed along a random-phase-approximation-like scheme, the response of the resonator gives an access to $G(\omega)$

Gate-dependent spin-torque in a nanoconductor-based spin-valve

This article discusses the spin-torque effect in a spin-valve made out of two ferromagnetic leads connected through a coherent nanoconductor (NC), in the limit where a single channel of the NC lies near the Fermi energy of the leads. Due to quantum interferences inside the NC, the spin-torque presents clear qualitative differences with respect to the case of a multichannel disordered spin-valve. In particular, it can be modulated with the NC gate voltage. In principle, this modulation can be observed experimentally, assuming that the spin-torque affects a ferromagnetic nano-domain in direct contact with the NC

Microwave spectroscopy of a Cooper pair beam splitter

This article discusses how to demonstrate the entanglement of the split Cooper pairs produced in a double-quantum-dot based Cooper pair beam splitter (CPS), by performing the microwave spectroscopy of the CPS. More precisely, one can study the DC current response of such a CPS to two on-phase microwave gate irradiations applied to the two CPS dots. Some of the current peaks caused by the microwaves show a strongly nonmonotonic variation with the amplitude of the irradiation applied individually to one dot. This effect is directly due to a subradiance property caused by the coherence of the split pairs. Using realistic parameters, one finds that this effect has a measurable amplitude.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Squeezing light with Majorana fermions

Coupling a semiconducting nanowire to a microwave cavity provides a powerfull means to assess the presence or absence of isolated Majorana fermions in the nanowire. These exotic bound states can cause a significant cavity frequency shift but also a strong cavity nonlinearity leading for instance to light squeezing. The dependence of these effects on the nanowire gate voltages gives direct signatures of the unique properties of Majorana fermions, such as their self-adjoint character and their exponential confinement.Comment: long version: 11 pages, 5 figure

Subradiant split Cooper pairs

We suggest a way to characterize the coherence of the split Cooper pairs emitted by a double-quantum-dot based Cooper pair splitter (CPS), by studying the radiative response of such a CPS inside a microwave cavity. The coherence of the split pairs manifests in a strongly nonmonotonic variation of the emitted radiation as a function of the parameters controlling the coupling of the CPS to the cavity. The idea to probe the coherence of the electronic states using the tools of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics could be generalized to many other nanoscale circuits.Comment: Main text + Supplemental material file (15 pages, 5 figures), to appear in Physical Review Letter

Direct cavity detection of Majorana pairs

No experiment could directly test the particle/antiparticle duality of Majorana fermions, so far. However, this property represents a necessary ingredient towards the realization of topological quantum computing schemes. Here, we show how to complete this task by using microwave techniques. The direct coupling between a pair of overlapping Majorana bound states and the electric field from a microwave cavity is extremely difficult to detect due to the self-adjoint character of Majorana fermions which forbids direct energy exchanges with the cavity. We show theoretically how this problem can be circumvented by using photo-assisted tunneling to fermionic reservoirs. The absence of direct microwave transition inside the Majorana pair in spite of the light-Majorana coupling would represent a smoking gun for the Majorana self-adjoint character.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure