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Jelena Klinovaja

Publications and source records attributed to Jelena Klinovaja.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Enhancement of the Kondo effect in a quantum dot formed in a full-shell nanowire

We analyze results of a recent experiment [D. Razmadze et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 125, 116803 (2020)] on transport through a quantum dot between two full-shell nanowires and show that the observed effects are caused by the Kondo effect enhancement due to a nontrivial geometry (magnetic flux in a full-shell nanowire) rather than the presence of Majorana bound states. Moreover, we propose that such a setup presents a unique and convenient system to study the competition between superconductivity and the Kondo effect and has significant advantages in comparison to other known approaches, as the important parameter is controlled by the magnetic flux through the full-shell nanowire, which can be significantly varied with small changes of magnetic field, and does not require additional gates. This competition is of fundamental interest as it results in a quantum phase transition between an unscreened doublet and a many-body Kondo singlet ground states of the system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Planar Josephson junctions in germanium: Effect of cubic spin-orbit interaction

Planar Josephson junctions comprising semiconductors with strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) are promising platforms to host Majorana bound states (MBSs). Previous works on MBSs in planar Josephson junctions have focused on electron gases, where SOI is linear in momentum. In contrast, a two-dimensional hole gas in planar germanium (Ge) exhibits SOI that is cubic in momentum. Nevertheless, we show here that due to the particularly large SOI, Ge is a favorable material. Using a discretized model, we numerically simulate a Ge planar Josephson junction and demonstrate that also cubic SOI can lead to the emergence of MBSs. Interestingly, we find that the cubic SOI yields an asymmetric phase diagram as a function of the superconducting phase difference across the junction. We also find that trivial Andreev bound states can imitate the signatures of MBSs in a Ge planar Josephson junction, therefore making the experimental detection of MBSs difficult. We use experimentally realistic parameters to assess if the topological phase is accessible within experimental limitations. Our analysis shows that two-dimensional Ge is an auspicious candidate for topological phases.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Fractional second-order topological insulator from a three-dimensional coupled-wires construction

We construct a three-dimensional second-order topological insulator with gapless helical hinge states from an array of weakly tunnel-coupled Rashba nanowires. For suitably chosen interwire tunnelings, we demonstrate that the system has a fully gapped bulk as well as fully gapped surfaces, but hosts a Kramers pair of gapless helical hinge states propagating along a path of hinges that is determined by the hierarchy of interwire tunnelings and the boundary termination of the system. Furthermore, the coupled-wires approach allows us to incorporate electron-electron interactions into our description. At suitable filling factors of the individual wires, we show that sufficiently strong electron-electron interactions can drive the system into a fractional second-order topological insulator phase with hinge states carrying only a fraction $e/p$ of the electronic charge $e$ for an odd integer $p$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Realization of a three-dimensional quantum Hall effect in a Zeeman-induced second order topological insulator on a torus

We propose a realization of a quantum Hall effect (QHE) in a second-order topological insulator (SOTI) in three dimensions (3D), which is mediated by hinge states on a torus surface. It results from the nontrivial interplay of the material structure, Zeeman effect, and the surface curvature. In contrast to the conventional 2D- and 3D-QHE, we show that the 3D-SOTI QHE is not affected by orbital effects of the applied magnetic field and exists in the presence of a Zeeman term only, induced e.g. by magnetic doping. To explain the 3D-SOTI QHE, we analyze the boundary charge for a 3D-SOTI and establish its universal dependence on the Aharonov-Bohm flux threading through the torus hole. Exploiting the fundamental relation between the boundary charge and the Hall conductance, we demonstrate the universal quantization of the latter, as well as its stability against random disorder potentials and continuous deformations of the torus surface.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Enhanced orbital magnetic field effects in Ge hole nanowires

Hole semiconductor nanowires (NW) are promising platforms to host spin qubits and Majorana bound states for topological qubits because of their strong spin-orbit interactions (SOI). The properties of these systems depend strongly on the design of the cross section and on strain, as well as on external electric and magnetic fields. In this work, we analyze in detail the dependence of the SOI and $g$ factors on the orbital magnetic field. We focus on magnetic fields aligned along the axis of the NW, where orbital effects are enhanced and result in a renormalization of the effective $g$ factor up to $400\,\%$, even at small values of magnetic field. We provide an exact analytical solution for holes in Ge NWs and we derive an effective low-energy model that enables us to investigate the effect of electric fields applied perpendicular to the NW. We also discuss in detail the role of strain, growth direction, and high energy valence bands in different architectures, including Ge/Si core/shell NWs, gate-defined one-dimensional channels in planar Ge, and curved Ge quantum wells. In core/shell NWs grown along the $[110]$ direction the $g$ factor can be twice larger than for other growth directions which makes this growth direction advantageous for Majorana bound states. Also curved Ge quantum wells feature large effective $g$ factors and SOI, again ideal for hosting Majorana bound states. Strikingly, because these quantities are independent of the electric field, hole spin qubits encoded in curved quantum wells are to good approximation not susceptible to charge noise, significantly boosting their coherence time.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Trivial Andreev band mimicking topological bulk gap reopening in the non-local conductance of long Rashba nanowires

We consider a one-dimensional Rashba nanowire in which multiple Andreev bound states in the bulk of the nanowire form an Andreev band. We show that, under certain circumstances, this trivial Andreev band can produce an apparent closing and reopening signature of the bulk band gap in the non-local conductance of the nanowire. Furthermore, we show that the existence of the trivial bulk reopening signature (BRS) in non-local conductance is essentially unaffected by the additional presence of trivial zero-bias peaks (ZBPs) in the local conductance at either end of the nanowire. The simultaneous occurrence of a trivial BRS and ZBPs mimics the basic features required to pass the so-called "topological gap protocol". Our results therefore provide a topologically trivial minimal model by which the applicability of this protocol can be benchmarked.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Helical Liquids in Semiconductors

One-dimensional helical liquids can appear at boundaries of certain condensed matter systems. Two prime examples are the edge of a quantum spin Hall insulator and the hinge of a three-dimensional second-order topological insulator. For these materials, the presence of a helical state at the boundary serves as a signature of their nontrivial electronic bulk topology. Additionally, these boundary states are of interest themselves, as a novel class of strongly correlated low-dimensional systems with interesting potential applications. Here, we review existing results on such helical liquids in semiconductors. Our focus is on the theory, though we confront it with existing experiments. We discuss various aspects of the helical liquids, such as their realization, topological protection and stability, or possible experimental characterization. We lay emphasis on the hallmark of these states, being the prediction of a quantized electrical conductance. Since so far reaching a well-quantized conductance has remained challenging experimentally, a large part of the review is a discussion of various backscattering mechanisms which have been invoked to explain this discrepancy. Finally, we include topics related to proximity-induced topological superconductivity in helical states, as an exciting application towards topological quantum computation with the resulting Majorana bound states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Magnetoelectric Cavity Magnonics in Skyrmion Crystals

We present a theory of magnetoelectric magnon-photon coupling in cavities hosting noncentrosymmetric magnets. Analogously to nonreciprocal phenomena in multiferroics, the magnetoelectric coupling is time-reversal and inversion asymmetric. This asymmetry establishes a means for exceptional tunability of magnon-photon coupling, which can be switched on and off by reversing the magnetization direction. Taking the multiferroic skyrmion-host Cu$_2$OSeO$_3$ with ultralow magnetic damping as an example, we reveal the electrical activity of skyrmion eigenmodes and propose it for magnon-photon splitting of ``magnetically dark'' elliptic modes. Furthermore, we predict a cavity-induced magnon-magnon coupling between magnetoelectrically active skyrmion excitations. We discuss applications in quantum information processing by proposing protocols for all-electrical magnon-mediated photon quantum gates, and a photon-mediated SPLIT operation of magnons. Our study highlights magnetoelectric cavity magnonics as a novel platform for realizing quantum-hybrid systems and the coherent transduction between photons and magnons in topological magnetic textures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Determination of spin-orbit interaction in semiconductor nanostructures via non-linear transport

We investigate non-linear transport signatures stemming from linear and cubic spin-orbit interactions in one- and two-dimensional systems. The analytical zero-temperature response to external fields is complemented by finite temperature numerical analysis, establishing a way to distinguish between linear and cubic spin-orbit interactions. We also propose a protocol to determine the relevant material parameters from transport measurements attainable in realistic conditions, illustrated by values for Ge heterostructures. Our results establish a method for the fast benchmarking of spin-orbit properties in semiconductor nanostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Coupled superconducting spin qubits with spin-orbit interaction

Superconducting spin qubits, also known as Andreev spin qubits, promise to combine the benefits of superconducting qubits and spin qubits defined in quantum dots. While most approaches to control these qubits rely on controlling the spin degree of freedom via the supercurrent, superconducting spin qubits can also be coupled to each other via the superconductor to implement two-qubit quantum gates. We theoretically investigate the interaction between superconducting spin qubits in the weak tunneling regime and concentrate on the effect of spin-orbit interaction (SOI), which can be large in semiconductor-based quantum dots and thereby offers an additional tuning parameter for quantum gates. We find analytically that the effective interaction between two superconducting spin qubits consists of Ising, Heisenberg, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and can be tuned by the superconducting phase difference, the tunnel barrier strength, or the SOI parameters. The Josephson current becomes dependent on SOI and spin orientations. We demonstrate that this interaction can be used for fast controlled phase-flip gates with a fidelity >99.99%. We propose a scalable network of superconducting spin qubits which is suitable for implementing the surface code.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Crossed Andreev reflection in spin-polarized chiral edge states due to the Meissner effect

We consider a hybrid quantum Hall-superconductor system, where a superconducting finger with oblique profile is wedged into a two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field, as considered by Lee et al., Nat. Phys. 13, 693 (2017). The electron gas is in the quantum Hall regime at filling factor $ν=1$. Due to the Meissner effect, the perpendicular magnetic field close to the quantum Hall-superconductor boundary is distorted and gives rise to an in-plane component of the magnetic field. This component enables nonlocal crossed Andreev reflection between the spin-polarized chiral edge states running on opposite sides of the superconducting finger, thus opening a gap in the spectrum of the edge states without the need of spin-orbit interaction or nontrivial magnetic textures. We compute numerically the transport properties of this setup and show that a negative resistance exists as a consequence of nonlocal Andreev processes. We also obtain numerically the zero-energy local density of states, which systematically shows peaks stable to disorder. The latter result is compatible with the emergence of Majorana bound states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Superconducting Quantum Interference in Edge State Josephson Junctions

We study superconducting quantum interference in a Josephson junction linked via edge states in two-dimensional (2D) insulators. We consider two scenarios in which the 2D insulator is either a topological or a trivial insulator supporting one-dimensional (1D) helical or nonhelical edge states, respectively. In equilibrium, we find that the qualitative dependence of critical supercurrent on the flux through the junction is insensitive to the helical nature of the mediating states and can, therefore, not be used to verify the topological features of the underlying insulator. However, upon applying a finite voltage bias smaller than the superconducting gap to a relatively long junction, the finite-frequency interference pattern in the non-equilibrium transport current is qualitatively different for helical edge states as compared to nonhelical ones.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Long-distance coupling of spin qubits via topological magnons

We consider two distant spin qubits in quantum dots, both coupled to a two-dimensional topological ferromagnet hosting chiral magnon edge states at the boundary. The chiral magnon is used to mediate entanglement between the spin qubits, realizing a fundamental building block of scalable quantum computing architectures: a long-distance two-qubit gate. Previous proposals for long-distance coupling with magnons involved off-resonant coupling, where the detuning of the spin-qubit frequency from the magnonic band edge provides protection against spontaneous relaxation. The topological magnon mode, on the other hand, lies in-between two magnonic bands far away from any bulk magnon resonances, facilitating strong and highly tuneable coupling between the two spin qubits. Even though the coupling between the qubit and the chiral magnon is resonant for a wide range of qubit splittings, we find that the magnon-induced qubit relaxation is vastly suppressed if the coupling between the qubit and the ferromagnet is antiferromagnetic. A fast and high-fidelity long-distance coupling protocol is presented capable of achieving spin-qubit entanglement over micrometer distances with $1\,$MHz gate speed and up to $99.9\%$ fidelities. The resulting spin-qubit entanglement may be used as a probe for the long-sought detection of topological edge magnons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Superconducting diode effect due to magnetochiral anisotropy in topological insulator and Rashba nanowires

The critical current of a superconductor can depend on the direction of current flow due to magnetochiral anisotropy when both inversion and time-reversal symmetry are broken, an effect known as the superconducting (SC) diode effect. Here, we consider one-dimensional (1D) systems in which superconductivity is induced via the proximity effect. In both topological insulator and Rashba nanowires, the SC diode effect due to a magnetic field applied along the spin-polarization axis and perpendicular to the nanowire provides a measure of inversion symmetry breaking in the presence of a superconductor. Furthermore, a strong dependence of the SC diode effect on an additional component of magnetic field applied parallel to the nanowire as well as on the position of the chemical potential can be used to detect that a device is in the region of parameter space where the phase transition to topological superconductivity is expected to arise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Giant magnetochiral anisotropy from quantum confined surface states of topological insulator nanowires

Wireless technology relies on the conversion of alternating electromagnetic fields to direct currents, a process known as rectification. While rectifiers are normally based on semiconductor diodes, quantum mechanical non-reciprocal transport effects that enable highly controllable rectification have recently been discovered. One such effect is magnetochiral anisotropy (MCA), where the resistance of a material or a device depends on both the direction of current flow and an applied magnetic field. However, the size of rectification possible due to MCA is usually extremely small, because MCA relies on inversion symmetry breaking leading to the manifestation of spin-orbit coupling, which is a relativistic effect. In typical materials the rectification coefficient $γ$ due to MCA is usually $|γ| \lesssim 1$ ${\rm A^{-1} T^{-1}}$ and the maximum values reported so far are $|γ| \sim 100$ ${\rm A^{-1} T^{-1}}$ in carbon nanotubes and ZrTe$_5$. Here, to overcome this limitation, we artificially break inversion symmetry via an applied gate voltage in thin topological insulator (TI) nanowire heterostructures and theoretically predict that such a symmetry breaking can lead to a giant MCA effect. Our prediction is confirmed via experiments on thin bulk-insulating (Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_{x}$)$_2$Te$_3$ TI nanowires, in which we observe an MCA consistent with theory and $|γ| \sim 100000$ ${\rm A^{-1} T^{-1}}$, the largest ever reported MCA rectification coefficient in a normal conductor.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Non-Majorana modes in diluted spin chains proximitized to a superconductor

Spin chains proximitized with superconducting condensates have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for the realization of Majorana modes. Here, we craft diluted spin chains atom-by-atom following seminal theoretical proposal suggesting indirect coupling mechanisms as a viable route to trigger topological superconductivity. Starting from single adatoms hosting deep Shiba states, we use the highly anisotropic Fermi surface of the substrate to create spin chains characterized by different magnetic configurations along distinct crystallographic directions. By scrutinizing a large set of parameters we reveal the ubiquitous emergence of boundary modes. Although mimicking signatures of Majorana modes, the end modes are identified as topologically trivial Shiba states. Our work demonstrates that zero-energy modes in spin chains proximitized to superconductors are not necessarily a link to Majorana modes while simultaneously identifying new experimental platforms, driving mechanisms, and test protocols for the determination of topologically non-trivial superconducting phases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Prevalence of trivial zero-energy sub-gap states in non-uniform helical spin chains on the surface of superconductors

Helical spin chains, consisting of magnetic (ad-)atoms, on the surface of bulk superconductors are predicted to host Majorana bound states (MBSs) at the ends of the chain. Here, we investigate the prevalence of trivial zero-energy bound states in these helical spin chain systems. First, we show that the Hamiltonian of a helical spin chain on a superconductor can be mapped to an effective Hamiltonian reminiscent of a semiconductor nanowire with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. In particular, we show that a varying rotation rate between neighbouring magnetic moments maps to smooth non-uniform potentials in the effective nanowire Hamiltonian. Previously it has been found that trivial zero-energy states are abundant in nanowire systems with smooth potentials. Therefore, we perform an extensive search for zero-energy bound states in helical spin chain systems with varying rotation rates. Although bound states with near zero-energy do exist for certain dimensionalities and rotation profiles, we find that zero-energy bound states are far less prevalent than in semiconductor nanowire systems with equivalent non-uniformities. In particular, utilising varying rotation rates, we do not find zero-energy bound states in the most experimentally relevant setup consisting of a one-dimensional helical spin chain on the surface of a three-dimensional superconductor, even for profiles that produce near zero-energy states in equivalent one- and two- dimensional systems. Although our findings do not rule them out, the much reduced prevalence of zero-energy bound states in long non-uniform helical spin chains compared with equivalent semi-conductor nanowires, as well as the ability to measure states locally via STM, should reduce the experimental barrier to identifying MBSs in such systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Fully tunable longitudinal spin-photon interactions in Si and Ge quantum dots

Spin qubits in silicon and germanium quantum dots are promising platforms for quantum computing, but entangling spin qubits over micrometer distances remains a critical challenge. Current prototypical architectures maximize transversal interactions between qubits and microwave resonators, where the spin state is flipped by nearly resonant photons. However, these interactions cause back-action on the qubit, that yield unavoidable residual qubit-qubit couplings and significantly affect the gate fidelity. Strikingly, residual couplings vanish when spin-photon interactions are longitudinal and photons couple to the phase of the qubit. We show that large longitudinal interactions emerge naturally in state-of-the-art hole spin qubits. These interactions are fully tunable and can be parametrically modulated by external oscillating electric fields. We propose realistic protocols to measure these interactions and to implement fast and high-fidelity two-qubit entangling gates. These protocols work also at high temperatures, paving the way towards the implementation of large-scale quantum processors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗