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Main Authors: Halász, Gábor B., Sarkar, Nirjhar, Wu, Yueh-Chun, Damron, Joshua T., Hua, Chengyun, Lawrie, Benjamin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19975
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author Halász, Gábor B.
Sarkar, Nirjhar
Wu, Yueh-Chun
Damron, Joshua T.
Hua, Chengyun
Lawrie, Benjamin
author_facet Halász, Gábor B.
Sarkar, Nirjhar
Wu, Yueh-Chun
Damron, Joshua T.
Hua, Chengyun
Lawrie, Benjamin
contents Half-quantum vortices in spin-triplet superconductors are predicted to harbor Majorana zero modes and may provide a viable avenue to topological quantum computation. Here, we introduce a novel approach for directly measuring the half-integer-quantized magnetic fluxes, $Φ= h / (4e)$, carried by such half-quantum vortices via spin-qubit relaxometry. We consider a superconducting strip with a narrow pinch point at which vortices cross quasi-periodically below a spin qubit as a result of a bias current. We demonstrate that the relaxation rate of the spin qubit exhibits a pronounced peak if the vortex-crossing frequency matches the transition frequency of the spin qubit and conclude that the magnetic flux $Φ$ of a single vortex can be obtained by dividing the corresponding voltage along the strip with the transition frequency. We discuss experimental constraints on implementing our proposed setup in spin-triplet candidate materials like UTe$_2$, UPt$_3$, and URhGe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_19975
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detecting half-quantum superconducting vortices by spin-qubit relaxometry
Halász, Gábor B.
Sarkar, Nirjhar
Wu, Yueh-Chun
Damron, Joshua T.
Hua, Chengyun
Lawrie, Benjamin
Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Half-quantum vortices in spin-triplet superconductors are predicted to harbor Majorana zero modes and may provide a viable avenue to topological quantum computation. Here, we introduce a novel approach for directly measuring the half-integer-quantized magnetic fluxes, $Φ= h / (4e)$, carried by such half-quantum vortices via spin-qubit relaxometry. We consider a superconducting strip with a narrow pinch point at which vortices cross quasi-periodically below a spin qubit as a result of a bias current. We demonstrate that the relaxation rate of the spin qubit exhibits a pronounced peak if the vortex-crossing frequency matches the transition frequency of the spin qubit and conclude that the magnetic flux $Φ$ of a single vortex can be obtained by dividing the corresponding voltage along the strip with the transition frequency. We discuss experimental constraints on implementing our proposed setup in spin-triplet candidate materials like UTe$_2$, UPt$_3$, and URhGe.
title Detecting half-quantum superconducting vortices by spin-qubit relaxometry
topic Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19975