No Arabic abstract
In this work, we investigate the spectra in an Aharonov-Bohm quantum-ring interferometer forming a Josephson junction between two topological superconductors (TSC) nanowires. The TSCs host Majorana bound states at their edges, and both the magnetic flux and the superconducting phase difference between the TSCs are used as control parameters. We use a tight-binding approach to model the quantum ring coupled to both TSCs, described by the Kitaev effective Hamiltonian. We solve the problem by means of exact numerical diagonalization of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) Hamiltonian and obtain the spectra for two sizes of the quantum ring as a function of the magnetic flux and the phase difference between the TSCs. Depending on the size of the quantum ring and the coupling, the spectra display several patterns. Those are denoted as line, point and undulated nodes, together with flat bands, which are topologically protected. The first three patterns can be possibly detected by means of persistent and Josephson currents. Hence, our results could be useful to understand the spectra and their relation with the behavior of the current signals.
We report the realization of a ballistic Josephson interferometer. The interferometer is made by a quantum ring etched in a nanofabricated two-dimensional electron gas confined in an InAs-based heterostructure laterally contacted to superconducting niobium leads. The Josephson current flowing through the structure shows oscillations with h/e flux periodicity when threading the loop with a perpendicular magnetic field. This periodicity, in sharp contrast with the h/2e one observed in conventional dc superconducting quantum interference devices, confirms the ballistic nature of the device in agreement with theoretical predictions. This system paves the way for the implementation of interferometric Josephson pi-junctions, and for the investigation of Majorana fermions.
We present a theoretical analysis of the equilibrium Josephson current-phase relation in hybrid devices made of conventional s-wave spin-singlet superconductors (S) and topological superconductor (TS) wires featuring Majorana end states. Using Greens function techniques, the topological superconductor is alternatively described by the low-energy continuum limit of a Kitaev chain or by a more microscopic spinful nanowire model. We show that for the simplest S-TS tunnel junction, only the s-wave pairing correlations in a spinful TS nanowire model can generate a Josephson effect. The critical current is much smaller in the topological regime and exhibits a kink-like dependence on the Zeeman field along the wire. When a correlated quantum dot (QD) in the magnetic regime is present in the junction region, however, the Josephson current becomes finite also in the deep topological phase as shown for the cotunneling regime and by a mean-field analysis. Remarkably, we find that the S-QD-TS setup can support $varphi_0$-junction behavior, where a finite supercurrent flows at vanishing phase difference. Finally, we also address a multi-terminal S-TS-S geometry, where the TS wire acts as tunable parity switch on the Andreev bound states in a superconducting atomic contact.
We developed microscopic theory of Josephson effect in point contacts between dirty two-band superconductors. The general expression for the Josephson current, which is valid for arbitrary temperatures, is obtained. This expression was used for calculation of current-phase relations and temperature dependences of critical current with application to MgB2 superconductor. Also we have considered influence on contact characteristics interband scattering effect appeared in case of dirty superconductors. It is shown that the correction to Josephson current due to the interband scattering depends on phase shift in the banks (i.e. s- or s+/- -wave symmetry of order parameters)
Electron transport properties in a triple-quantum-dot ring with three terminals are theoretically studied. By introducing local Rashba spin-orbit interaction on an individual quantum dot, we calculate the charge and spin currents in one lead. We find that a pure spin current appears in the absence of a magnetic field. The polarization direction of the spin current can be inverted by altering the bias voltage. In addition, by tuning the magnetic field strength, the charge and spin currents reach their respective peaks alternately.
A time periodic driving on a topologically trivial system induces edge modes and topological properties. In this work we consider triplet and singlet superconductors subject to periodic variations of the chemical potential, spin-orbit coupling and magnetization, in both topologically trivial and nontrivial phases, and study their influence on the charge and spin currents that propagate along the edges of the two-dimensional system, for moderate to large driving frequencies. Currents associated with the edge modes are induced in the trivial phases and enhanced in the topological phases. In some cases there is a sign reversal of the currents as a consequence of the periodic driving. The edge states associated with the finite quasi-energy states at the edge of the Floquet zone are in general robust, while the stability of the zero quasi-energy states depends on the parameters. Also, the spin polarization of the Floquet spectrum quasi-energies is strong as for the unperturbed topological phases. It is found that in some cases the unperturbed edge states are immersed in a continuum of states due to the perturbation, particularly if the driving frequency is not large enough. However, their contribution to the edge currents and spin polarization is still significant.