Josephson response of a conventional and a noncentrosymmetric superconductor coupled via a double quantum dot

We consider transport through a Josephson junction consisting of a conventional s-wave superconductor coupled via a double quantum dot to a noncentrosymmetric superconductor with both, singlet and triplet pairing. We calculate the Andreev bound state energies and the associated Josephson current. We demonstrate that the current-phase relation is a sensitive probe of the singlet-triplet ratio in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor. In particular, in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field the system exhibits a $\varphi$-junction behavior.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, published versio

Model for the magnetoresistance and Hall coefficient of inhomogeneous graphene

We show that when bulk graphene breaks into n-type and p-type puddles, the in-plane resistivity becomes strongly field dependent in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field, even if homoge- neous graphene has a field-independent resistivity. We calculate the longitudinal resistivity \rho_{xx} and Hall resistivity \rho_{xy} as a function of field for this system, using the effective-medium approximation. The conductivity tensors of the individual puddles are calculated using a Boltzmann approach suit- able for the band structure of graphene near the Dirac points. The resulting resistivity agrees well with experiment, provided that the relaxation time is weakly field-dependent. The calculated Hall resistivity has the sign of the majority carrier and vanishes when there are equal number of n and p type puddles.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Numerical Study of Energy Loss by a Nanomechanical Oscillator Coupled to a Cooper Pair Box

We calculate the dynamics of a nanomechanical oscillator (NMO) coupled capacitively to a Cooper pair box (CPB), by solving a stochastic Schrodinger equation with two Lindblad operators. Both the NMO and the CPB are assumed dissipative, and the coupling is treated within the rotating wave approximation. We show numerically that, if the CPB decay time is smaller than the NMO decay time, the coupled NMO will lose energy faster, and the coupled CPB more slowly, than do the uncoupled NMO and CPB. The results show that the efficiency of energy loss by an NMO can be substantially increased if the NMO is coupled to a CPB.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Signatures of tunable Majorana-fermion edge states

Chiral Majorana-fermion modes are shown to emerge as edge excitations in a superconductor--topological-insulator hybrid structure that is subject to a magnetic field. The velocity of this mode is tunable by changing the magnetic-field magnitude and/or the superconductor's chemical potential. We discuss how quantum-transport measurements can yield experimental signatures of these modes. A normal lead coupled to the Majorana-fermion edge state through electron tunneling induces resonant Andreev reflections from the lead to the grounded superconductor, resulting in a distinctive pattern of differential-conductance peaks.Comment: (13 pages, Accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics, an extension of and expansion on our previous work arXiv:1210.4057). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1210.405

Tunable Band Gap in Graphene with a Non-Centrosymmetric Superlattice Potential

We show that, if graphene is subjected to the potential from an external superlattice, a band gap develops at the Dirac point provided the superlattice potential has broken inversion symmetry. As a numerical example, we calculate the band structure of graphene in the presence of an external potential due to periodically patterned gates arranged in a triangular graphene superlattice (TGS) with broken inversion symmetry, and find that a band gap is created at both the original and "second generation" Dirac point. The gap can be controlled, in principle, by changing the external potential and the lattice constant of the TGS.Comment: 6 figures, Phys. Rev. B 79, 20543

Spin transport in a graphene normal-superconductor junction in the quantum Hall regime

The quantum Hall regime of graphene has many unusual properties. In particular, the presence of a Zeeman field opens up a region of energy within the zeroth Landau level, where the spin-up and spin-down states localized at a single edge propagate in opposite directions. We show that when these edge states are coupled to an s-wave superconductor, the transport of charge carriers is spin-filtered. This spin-filtering effect can be traced back to the interplay of specular Andreev reflections and Andreev retro-reflections in the presence of a Zeeman field.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure