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Tunnel spectroscopy of Majorana bound states in topological superconductor/quantum dot Josephson junctions

Huang, Guangyao LU ; Leijnse, Martin LU ; Flensberg, Karsten and Xu, Hongqi LU (2014) In Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) 90(21).
Abstract
We theoretically investigate electronic transport through a junction where a quantum dot (QD) is tunnel coupled on both sides to semiconductor nanowires with strong spin-orbit interaction and proximity-induced superconductivity. The results are presented as stability diagrams, i.e., the differential conductance as a function of the bias voltage applied across the junction and the gate voltage used to control the electrostatic potential on the QD. A small applied magnetic field splits and modifies the resonances due to the Zeeman splitting of the QD level. Above a critical field strength, Majorana bound states (MBS) appear at the interfaces between the two superconducting nanowires and the QD, resulting in a qualitative change of the entire... (More)
We theoretically investigate electronic transport through a junction where a quantum dot (QD) is tunnel coupled on both sides to semiconductor nanowires with strong spin-orbit interaction and proximity-induced superconductivity. The results are presented as stability diagrams, i.e., the differential conductance as a function of the bias voltage applied across the junction and the gate voltage used to control the electrostatic potential on the QD. A small applied magnetic field splits and modifies the resonances due to the Zeeman splitting of the QD level. Above a critical field strength, Majorana bound states (MBS) appear at the interfaces between the two superconducting nanowires and the QD, resulting in a qualitative change of the entire stability diagram, suggesting this setup as a promising platform to identify MBS. Our calculations are based on a nonequilibrium Green's function description and is exact when Coulomb interactions on the QD can be neglected. In addition, we develop a simple pictorial view of the involved transport processes, which is equivalent to a description in terms of multiple Andreev reflections, but provides an alternative way to understand the role of the QD level in enhancing transport for certain gate and bias voltages. We believe that this description will be useful in future studies of interacting QDs coupled to superconducting leads (with or without MBS), where it can be used to develop a perturbation expansion in the tunnel coupling. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)
volume
90
issue
21
article number
214507
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • wos:000346606100004
  • scopus:84916213484
ISSN
1098-0121
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevB.90.214507
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
479e8199-5ad9-47db-b69d-1ad0c624c012 (old id 4944604)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:48:30
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:17:42
@article{479e8199-5ad9-47db-b69d-1ad0c624c012,
  abstract     = {{We theoretically investigate electronic transport through a junction where a quantum dot (QD) is tunnel coupled on both sides to semiconductor nanowires with strong spin-orbit interaction and proximity-induced superconductivity. The results are presented as stability diagrams, i.e., the differential conductance as a function of the bias voltage applied across the junction and the gate voltage used to control the electrostatic potential on the QD. A small applied magnetic field splits and modifies the resonances due to the Zeeman splitting of the QD level. Above a critical field strength, Majorana bound states (MBS) appear at the interfaces between the two superconducting nanowires and the QD, resulting in a qualitative change of the entire stability diagram, suggesting this setup as a promising platform to identify MBS. Our calculations are based on a nonequilibrium Green's function description and is exact when Coulomb interactions on the QD can be neglected. In addition, we develop a simple pictorial view of the involved transport processes, which is equivalent to a description in terms of multiple Andreev reflections, but provides an alternative way to understand the role of the QD level in enhancing transport for certain gate and bias voltages. We believe that this description will be useful in future studies of interacting QDs coupled to superconducting leads (with or without MBS), where it can be used to develop a perturbation expansion in the tunnel coupling.}},
  author       = {{Huang, Guangyao and Leijnse, Martin and Flensberg, Karsten and Xu, Hongqi}},
  issn         = {{1098-0121}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{21}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)}},
  title        = {{Tunnel spectroscopy of Majorana bound states in topological superconductor/quantum dot Josephson junctions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.214507}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevB.90.214507}},
  volume       = {{90}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}