Enhancing the excitation gap of a quantum-dot-based Kitaev chain

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Liu, Chun-Xiao, Bozkurt, A. Mert, Zatelli, Francesco, Haaf, Sebastiaan L. D. ten, Dvir, Tom, Wimmer, Michael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Liu, Chun-Xiao
Bozkurt, A. Mert
Zatelli, Francesco
Haaf, Sebastiaan L. D. ten
Dvir, Tom
Wimmer, Michael
author_facet Liu, Chun-Xiao
Bozkurt, A. Mert
Zatelli, Francesco
Haaf, Sebastiaan L. D. ten
Dvir, Tom
Wimmer, Michael
contents Connecting double quantum dots via a semiconductor-superconductor hybrid segment offers a platform for creating a two-site Kitaev chain that hosts a pair of "poor man's Majoranas" at a finely tuned sweet spot. However, the effective couplings, which are mediated by Andreev bound states in the hybrid, are generally weak in the tunneling regime. As a consequence, the excitation gap is limited in size, presenting a formidable challenge for using this platform to demonstrate non-Abelian statistics of Majoranas and realizing error-resilient topological quantum computing. In this work, we systematically study the effects of increasing the coupling between the dot and the hybrid segment. In particular, the proximity effect transforms the dot orbitals into Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states, forming a new spinless fermion basis for a Kitaev chain, and we derive a theory for their effective coupling. As the coupling strength between the dots and the hybrid segment increases, we find a significant enhancement of the excitation gap and reduced sensitivity to local perturbations. Although the hybridization of the Majorana wave function with the central Andreev bound states increases strongly with increasing coupling, the overlap of Majorana modes on the outer dots remains small, which is a prerequisite for potential qubit experiments. We discuss how the strong-coupling regime shows in experimentally accessible quantities, such as the local and non-local conductance, and provide a protocol for tuning a double-dot system into a sweet spot with a large excitation gap.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_09106
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Enhancing the excitation gap of a quantum-dot-based Kitaev chain
Liu, Chun-Xiao
Bozkurt, A. Mert
Zatelli, Francesco
Haaf, Sebastiaan L. D. ten
Dvir, Tom
Wimmer, Michael
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Connecting double quantum dots via a semiconductor-superconductor hybrid segment offers a platform for creating a two-site Kitaev chain that hosts a pair of "poor man's Majoranas" at a finely tuned sweet spot. However, the effective couplings, which are mediated by Andreev bound states in the hybrid, are generally weak in the tunneling regime. As a consequence, the excitation gap is limited in size, presenting a formidable challenge for using this platform to demonstrate non-Abelian statistics of Majoranas and realizing error-resilient topological quantum computing. In this work, we systematically study the effects of increasing the coupling between the dot and the hybrid segment. In particular, the proximity effect transforms the dot orbitals into Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states, forming a new spinless fermion basis for a Kitaev chain, and we derive a theory for their effective coupling. As the coupling strength between the dots and the hybrid segment increases, we find a significant enhancement of the excitation gap and reduced sensitivity to local perturbations. Although the hybridization of the Majorana wave function with the central Andreev bound states increases strongly with increasing coupling, the overlap of Majorana modes on the outer dots remains small, which is a prerequisite for potential qubit experiments. We discuss how the strong-coupling regime shows in experimentally accessible quantities, such as the local and non-local conductance, and provide a protocol for tuning a double-dot system into a sweet spot with a large excitation gap.
title Enhancing the excitation gap of a quantum-dot-based Kitaev chain
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.09106