21 research outputs found
From Andreev to Majorana bound states in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowires
Electronic excitations above the ground state must overcome an energy gap in
superconductors with spatially-homogeneous s-wave pairing. In contrast,
inhomogeneous superconductors such as those with magnetic impurities or weak
links, or heterojunctions containing normal metals or quantum dots, can host
subgap electronic excitations that are generically known as Andreev bound
states (ABSs). With the advent of topological superconductivity, a new kind of
ABS with exotic qualities, known as Majorana bound state (MBS), has been
discovered. We review the main properties of ABSs and MBSs, and the
state-of-the-art techniques for their detection. We focus on hybrid
superconductor-semiconductor nanowires, possibly coupled to quantum dots, as
one of the most flexible and promising experimental platforms. We discuss how
the combined effect of spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman field in these wires
triggers the transition from ABSs into MBSs. We show theoretical progress
beyond minimal models in understanding experiments, including the possibility
of different types of robust zero modes that may emerge without a
band-topological transition. We examine the role of spatial non-locality, a
special property of MBS wavefunctions that, together with non-Abelian braiding,
is the key to realizing topological quantum computation.Comment: Review. 23 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Shareable published version by
Springer Nature at https://rdcu.be/b7DWT (free to read but not to download
Parity transitions in the superconducting ground state of hybrid InSb-Al Coulomb islands
The number of electrons in small metallic or semiconducting islands is
quantized. When tunnelling is enabled via opaque barriers this number can
change by an integer. In superconductors the addition is in units of two
electron charges (2e), reflecting that the Cooper pair condensate must have an
even parity. This ground state (GS) is foundational for all superconducting
qubit devices. Here, we study a hybrid superconducting-semiconducting island
and find three typical GS evolutions in a parallel magnetic field: a robust
2e-periodic even-parity GS, a transition to a 2e-periodic odd-parity GS,and a
transition from a 2e- to a 1e-periodic GS. The 2e-periodic odd-parity GS
persistent in gate-voltage occurs when a spin-resolved subgap state crosses
zero energy. For our 1e-periodic GSs we explicitly show the origin being a
single zero-energy state gapped from the continuum, i.e. compatible with an
Andreev bound states stabilized at zero energy or the presence of Majorana zero
modes
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Roadmap on quantum nanotechnologies
Quantum phenomena are typically observable at length and time scales smaller than those of our everyday experience, often involving individual particles or excitations. The past few decades have seen a revolution in the ability to structure matter at the nanoscale, and experiments at the single particle level have become commonplace. This has opened wide new avenues for exploring and harnessing quantum mechanical effects in condensed matter. These quantum phenomena, in turn, have the potential to revolutionize the way we communicate, compute and probe the nanoscale world. Here, we review developments in key areas of quantum research in light of the nanotechnologies that enable them, with a view to what the future holds. Materials and devices with nanoscale features are used for quantum metrology and sensing, as building blocks for quantum computing, and as sources and detectors for quantum communication. They enable explorations of quantum behaviour and unconventional states in nano- and opto-mechanical systems, low-dimensional systems, molecular devices, nano-plasmonics, quantum electrodynamics, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and more. This rapidly expanding intersection of nanotechnology and quantum science/technology is mutually beneficial to both fields, laying claim to some of the most exciting scientific leaps of the last decade, with more on the horizon
Data underlying the article: Indium as a high cooling power nuclear refrigerant for quantum nanoelectronics
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500 microkelvin nanoelectronics, raw data and scripts
Raw data and scripts that belong to the paper "500 microkelvin nanoelectronics". For usage instructions, see readme.txt
Data underlying the article: Indium as a high cooling power nuclear refrigerant for quantum nanoelectronics
Raw data and scripts that belong to the paper "Indium as a high cooling power nuclear refrigerant for quantum nanoelectronics". For usage instructions, see readme.txt
Data underlying the paper: Broadband microwave spectroscopy of semiconductor nanowire-based Cooper-pair transistors
Raw data and scripts that belong to the paper "Broadband microwave spectroscopy of semiconductor nanowire-based
Cooper-pair transistors". For usage instructions, see readme.txt
Realization of microwave quantum circuits using hybrid superconducting-semiconducting nanowire Josephson elements
\u3cp\u3eWe report the realization of quantum microwave circuits using hybrid superconductor-semiconductor Josephson elements comprised of InAs nanowires contacted by NbTiN. Capacitively shunted single elements behave as transmon circuits with electrically tunable transition frequencies. Two-element circuits also exhibit transmonlike behavior near zero applied flux but behave as flux qubits at half the flux quantum, where nonsinusoidal current-phase relations in the elements produce a double-well Josephson potential. These hybrid Josephson elements are promising for applications requiring microwave superconducting circuits operating in a magnetic field.\u3c/p\u3
Josephson radiation and shot noise of a semiconductor nanowire junction [version 1]
Raw data and code that belong to the paper "Josephson radiation and shot noise of a semiconductor nanowire junction". For usage instructions, see README.txt