Richardson model with complex level structure and spin-orbit coupling for hybrid superconducting islands: stepwise suppression of pairing and magnetic pinning

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Main Authors: Saldaña, Juan Carlos Estrada, Pavešič, Luka, Vekris, Alexandros, Grove-Rasmussen, Kasper, Nygård, Jesper, Žitko, Rok
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Saldaña, Juan Carlos Estrada
Pavešič, Luka
Vekris, Alexandros
Grove-Rasmussen, Kasper
Nygård, Jesper
Žitko, Rok
author_facet Saldaña, Juan Carlos Estrada
Pavešič, Luka
Vekris, Alexandros
Grove-Rasmussen, Kasper
Nygård, Jesper
Žitko, Rok
contents An epitaxial semiconductor-superconductor nanowire is a superconducting system with a complex level structure originating from hybridization: in addition to a dense set of higher-energy states derived predominantly from the metallic superconducting shell above the bulk gap $Δ$, there is a smaller number of lower-energy proximitized states from the semiconducting core that define the induced gap $Δ^*$. Nanostructures built from such nanowires can furthermore incorporate quantum dots in order to obtain localized spins for storing and manipulating quantum information. We discuss the magnetic field dependence in three devices with different combinations of embedded quantum dots and superconducting islands. For strong fields, they show pinning of excitation energies to a uniform spacing, even if for weak fields they have non-universal properties with different behaviors for even and odd number of confined electrons. We propose a quantum impurity model for hybrid devices that incorporates all relevant physical effects. We show that the model accounts for the key observations and permits unambiguous interpretation in terms of many-particle states. In particular, we study the replicas of the Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in the hybrid gap, their collapse and oscillation around zero bias with increasing field, and the strong smoothing effect of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on these oscillations. We propose that the SOC-induced mixing of many-body states is a generic mechanism and that magnetic pinning is likely to be a ubiquitous feature in hybrid nanowires.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_06001
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Richardson model with complex level structure and spin-orbit coupling for hybrid superconducting islands: stepwise suppression of pairing and magnetic pinning
Saldaña, Juan Carlos Estrada
Pavešič, Luka
Vekris, Alexandros
Grove-Rasmussen, Kasper
Nygård, Jesper
Žitko, Rok
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
An epitaxial semiconductor-superconductor nanowire is a superconducting system with a complex level structure originating from hybridization: in addition to a dense set of higher-energy states derived predominantly from the metallic superconducting shell above the bulk gap $Δ$, there is a smaller number of lower-energy proximitized states from the semiconducting core that define the induced gap $Δ^*$. Nanostructures built from such nanowires can furthermore incorporate quantum dots in order to obtain localized spins for storing and manipulating quantum information. We discuss the magnetic field dependence in three devices with different combinations of embedded quantum dots and superconducting islands. For strong fields, they show pinning of excitation energies to a uniform spacing, even if for weak fields they have non-universal properties with different behaviors for even and odd number of confined electrons. We propose a quantum impurity model for hybrid devices that incorporates all relevant physical effects. We show that the model accounts for the key observations and permits unambiguous interpretation in terms of many-particle states. In particular, we study the replicas of the Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in the hybrid gap, their collapse and oscillation around zero bias with increasing field, and the strong smoothing effect of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on these oscillations. We propose that the SOC-induced mixing of many-body states is a generic mechanism and that magnetic pinning is likely to be a ubiquitous feature in hybrid nanowires.
title Richardson model with complex level structure and spin-orbit coupling for hybrid superconducting islands: stepwise suppression of pairing and magnetic pinning
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06001