arXiv subjects

Pascal Simon

Publications and source records attributed to Pascal Simon.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Topological state engineering by potential impurities on chiral superconductors

In this work we consider the influence of potential impurities deposited on top of two-dimensional chiral superconductors. As discovered recently, magnetic impurity lattices on an $s$-wave superconductor may give rise to a rich topological phase diagram. We show that similar mechanism takes place in chiral superconductors decorated by non-magnetic impurities, thus avoiding the delicate issue of magnetic ordering of adatoms. We illustrate the method by presenting the theory of potential impurity lattices embedded on chiral $p$-wave superconductors. While a prerequisite for the topological state engineering is a chiral superconductor, the proposed procedure results in vistas of nontrivial descendant phases with different Chern numbers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Josephson effect in topological superconducting rings coupled to a microwave cavity

We theoretically study a one dimensional p-wave superconducting mesoscopic ring interrupted by a weak link and coupled inductively to a microwave cavity. We establish an input-output description for the cavity field in the presence of the ring, and identify the electronic contributions to the cavity response and their dependence on various parameters, such as the magnetic flux, chemical potential, and cavity frequency. We show that the cavity response is $4π$ periodic as a function of the magnetic flux in the topological region, stemming from the so called fractional Josephson current carried by the Majorana fermions, while it is $2π$ periodic in the non-topological phase, consistent with the normal Josephson effect. We find a strong dependence of the signal on the cavity frequency, as well as on the parity of the ground state. Our model takes into account fully the interplay between the low-energy Majorana modes and the gaped bulks states, which we show is crucial for visualizing the evolution of the Josephson effect during the transition from the topological to the trivial phase.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Cavity quantum electrodynamics with an out-of-equilibrium quantum dot

We consider a superconducting microwave cavity capacitively coupled to both a quantum conductor and its electronic reservoirs. We analyze in details how the measurements of the cavity microwave field, which are related to the electronic charge susceptibility, can be used to extract information on the transport properties of the quantum conductor. We show that the asymmetry of the capacitive couplings between the electronic reservoirs and the cavity plays a crucial role in relating optical measurements to transport properties. For asymmetric capacitive couplings, photonic measurements can be used to probe the finite low frequency admittance of the quantum conductor, the real part of which being related to the differential conductance. In particular, when the quantum dot is far from resonance, the charge susceptibility is directly proportional to the admittance for a large range of frequencies and voltages. However, when the quantum conductor is near a resonance, such a relation generally holds only at low frequency and for equal tunnel coupling or low voltage. Beyond this low-energy near equilibrium regime, the charge susceptibility and thus the optical transmission offers new insights on the quantum conductors since the optical observables are not directly connected to transport quantities. For symmetric lead capacitive couplings, we show that the optical measurements can be used to reveal the Korringa-Shiba relation, connecting the reactive to the dissipative part of the susceptibility, at low frequency and low bias.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Self-stabilizing temperature driven crossover between topological and non-topological ordered phases in one-dimensional conductors

We present a self-consistent analysis of the topological superconductivity arising from the interaction between self-ordered localized magnetic moments and electrons in one-dimensional conductors in contact with a superconductor. We show that due to a gain in entropy there exists a magnetically ordered yet non-topological phase at finite temperatures that is relevant for systems of magnetic adatom chains on a superconductor. Spin-orbit interaction is taken into account, and we show that it causes a modification of the magnetic order yet without affecting the topological properties.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Cavity quantum electrodynamics with mesoscopic topological superconductors

We study one-dimensional $p$-wave superconductors capacitively coupled to a microwave stripline cavity. By probing the light exiting from the cavity, one can reveal the electronic susceptibility of the $p$-wave superconductor. We analyze two superconducting systems: the prototypical Kitaev chain, and a topological semiconducting wire. For both systems, we show that the photonic measurements, via the electronic susceptibility, allows us to determine the topological phase transition point, the emergence of the Majorana fermions, and the parity of their ground state. We show that all these effects, which are absent in effective theories that take into account the coupling of light to Majorana fermions only, are due to the interplay between the Majorana fermions and the bulk states of the superconductors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Wiedemann-Franz Law for Magnon Transport

One of the main goals of spintronics is to improve transport of information carriers and to achieve new functionalities with ultra-low dissipation. A most promising strategy for this holy grail is to use pure magnon currents created and transported in insulating magnets, in the complete absence of any conducting metallic elements. Here we propose a realistic solution to this fundamental challenge by analyzing magnon and heat transport in insulating ferromagnetic junctions. We calculate all transport coefficients for magnon transport and establish Onsager relations between them. We theoretically discover that magnon transport in junctions has a universal behavior, i.e. is independent of material parameters, and establish a magnon analog of the celebrated Wiedemann-Franz law which governs charge transport at low temperatures. We calculate the Seebeck and Peltier coefficients which are crucial quantities for spin caloritronics and demonstrate that they assume universal values in the low temperature limit. Finally, we show that our predictions are within experimental reach with current device and measurement technologies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Josephson and Persistent Spin Currents in Bose-Einstein Condensates of Magnons

Using the Aharonov-Casher (A-C) phase, we present a microscopic theory of the Josephson and persistent spin currents in quasi-equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of magnons in ferromagnetic insulators. Starting from a microscopic spin model that we map onto a Gross-Pitaevskii Hamiltonian, we derive a two-state model for the Josephson junction between the weakly coupled magnon-BECs. We then show how to obtain the alternating-current (ac) Josephson effect with magnons as well as macroscopic quantum self-trapping in a magnon-BEC. We next propose how to control the direct-current (dc) Josephson effect electrically using the A-C phase, which is the geometric phase acquired by magnons moving in an electric field. Finally, we introduce a magnon-BEC ring and show that persistent magnon-BEC currents flow due to the A-C phase. Focusing on the feature that the persistent magnon-BEC current is a steady flow of magnetic dipoles that produces an electric field, we propose a method to directly measure it experimentally.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Superconducting Gap Renormalization around two Magnetic Impurities: From Shiba to Andreev Bound States

We study the renormalization of the gap of an s-wave superconductor in the presence of two magnetic impurities. For weakly bound Shiba states, we analytically calculate the part of the gap renormalization that is sensitive to the relative orientation of the two impurity spins. For impurities with a strong exchange coupling to the conduction electrons, we solve the gap equation self-consistently by numerics and find that the sub-gap Shiba state turns into a supra-gap Andreev state when the local gap parameter changes sign under the impurities.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Magnon transport through microwave pumping

We present a microscopic theory of magnon transport in ferromagnetic insulators (FIs). Using magnon injection through microwave pumping, we propose a way to generate magnon dc currents and show how to enhance their amplitudes in hybrid ferromagnetic insulating junctions. To this end focusing on a single FI, we first revisit microwave pumping at finite (room) temperature from the microscopic viewpoint of magnon injection. Next, we apply it to two kinds of hybrid ferromagnetic insulating junctions. The first is the junction between a quasi-equilibrium magnon condensate and magnons being pumped by microwave, while the second is the junction between such pumped magnons and noncondensed magnons. We show that quasi-equilibrium magnon condensates generate ac and dc magnon currents, while noncondensed magnons produce essentially a dc magnon current. The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) drastically increases the density of the pumped magnons and enhances such magnon currents. Lastly, using microwave pumping in a single FI, we discuss the possibility that a magnon current through an Aharonov-Casher phase flows persistently even at finite temperature. We show that such a magnon current arises even at finite temperature in the presence of magnon-magnon interactions. Due to FMR, its amplitude becomes much larger than the condensed magnon current.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Long range coherent magnetic bound states in superconductors

The quantum coherent coupling of completely different degrees of freedom is a challenging path towards creating new functionalities for quantum electronics. Usually the antagonistic coupling between spins of magnetic impurities and superconductivity leads to the destruction of the superconducting order. Here we show that a localized classical spin of an iron atom immersed in a superconducting condensate can give rise to new kind of long range coherent magnetic quantum state. In addition to the well-known Shiba bound state present on top of an impurity we reveal the existence of a star shaped pattern which extends as far as 12 nm from the impurity location. This large spatial dispersion turns out to be related, in a non-trivial way, to the superconducting coherence length. Inside star branches we observed short scale interference fringes with a particle-hole asymmetry. Our theoretical approach captures these features and relates them to the electronic band structure and the Fermi wave length of the superconductor. The discovery of a directional long range effect implies that distant magnetic atoms could coherently interact leading to new topological superconducting phases with fascinating properties.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Photon cross-correlations emitted by a Josephson junction in two microwave cavities

We study a voltage biased Josephson junction coupled to two resonators of incommensurate frequencies. Using a density approach to analyze the cavity fields and an input-output description to analyze the emitted photonic fluxes and their correlation functions, we have shown, both for infinite and finite bandwidth detectors, that the emitted radiation is non-classical in the sense that the correlators violates Cauchy-Schwarz inequalities. We have also studied the time dependence of the photonic correlations and showed that their line-width becomes narrower with the increase of the emission rate approaching from below the threshold limit.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Orbital Kondo effect in fractional quantum Hall systems

We study transport properties of a charge qubit coupling two chiral Luttinger liquids, realized by two antidots placed between the edges of an integer $ν=1$ or fractional $ν=1/3$ quantum Hall bar. We show that in the limit of a large capacitive coupling between the antidots, their quasiparticle occupancy behaves as a pseudo-spin corresponding to an orbital Kondo impurity coupled to a chiral Luttinger liquid, while the inter antidot tunnelling acts as an impurity magnetic field. The latter tends to destabilize the Kondo fixed point for the $ν=1/3$ fractional Hall state, producing an effective inter-edge tunnelling. We relate the inter-edge conductance to the susceptibility of the Kondo impurity and calculate it analytically in various limits for both $ν=1$ and $ν=1/3$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Giant magnetoelectric effect in magnetic tunnel junctions coupled to an electromagnetic environment

We study the magnetization dynamics in ferromagnet$\mid$insulator$\mid$ferromagnet and ferromagnet$\mid$insulator$\mid$normal metal ultra-small tunnel junctions, and the associated voltage drop in the presence of an electromagnetic environment assisting the tunneling processes. We show that the environment strongly affects the resulting voltage, which becomes a highly non-linear function of the precession cone angle $θ$. We find that voltages comparable to the driving frequency $ω$ can be reached even for small precession cone angles $θ$, in stark contrast to the case where the environment is absent. Such an effect could be useful for the detection local magnetization precessions in textured ferromagnets or, conversely, for probing the environment via the magnetization dynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Nonperturbative phase diagram of interacting disordered Majorana nanowires

We develop a Gaussian variational approach in replica space to investigate the phase diagram of a one-dimensional interacting disordered topological superconducting wire in the strong coupling regime. This method allows for a non-perturbative treatment in the disorder strength, electron- electron interactions and the superconducting pairing amplitude. We find only two stable phases: a topological superconducting phase, and a glassy, non-topological localized phase, characterized by replica symmetry breaking.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Photon-assisted tunneling with non-classical light

Among the most exciting recent advances in the field of superconducting quantum circuits is the ability to coherently couple microwave photons in low-loss cavities to quantum electronic conductors (e.g.~semiconductor quantum dots or carbon nanotubes). These hybrid quantum systems hold great promise for quantum information processing applications; even more strikingly, they enable exploration of completely new physical regimes. Here we study theoretically the new physics emerging when a quantum electronic conductor is exposed to non-classical microwaves (e.g.~squeezed states, Fock states). We study this interplay in the experimentally-relevant situation where a superconducting microwave cavity is coupled to a conductor in the tunneling regime. We find the quantum conductor acts as a non-trivial probe of the microwave state; in particular, the emission and absorption of photons by the conductor is characterized by a non-positive definite quasi-probability distribution. This negativity has a direct influence on the conductance of the conductor.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Finite-frequency-dependent noise of a quantum dot in a magnetic field

We present a detailed study for the finite-frequency current noise of a Kondo quantum dot in presence of a magnetic field by using a recently developed real time functional renormalization group approach [Phys. Rev. B $\mathbf{83}$, 201303(R) (2011)]. The scaling equations are modified in an external magnetic field; the couplings and non-local current vertices become strongly anisotropic, and develop new singularities. Consequently, in addition to the natural emission threshold frequency, $\hbarω= |eV|$, a corresponding singular behavior is found to emerge in the noise spectrum at frequencies $\hbar ω\approx |eV\pm B|$. The predicted singularities are measurable with present-day experimental techniques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

A quantum magnetic RC circuit

We propose a setup that is the spin analog of the charge-based quantum RC circuit. We define and compute the spin capacitance and the spin resistance of the circuit for both ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AF) systems. We find that the antiferromagnetic setup has universal properties, but the ferromagnetic setup does not. We discuss how to use the proposed setup as a quantum source of spin excitations, and put forward a possible experimental realization using ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Non-equilibrium spin-current detection with a single Kondo impurity

We present a theoretical study based on the Anderson model of the transport properties of a Kondo impurity (atom or quantum dot) connected to ferromagnetic leads, which can sustain a non-equilibrium spin current. We analyze the case where the spin current is injected by an external source and when it is generated by the voltage bias. Due to the presence of ferromagnetic contacts, a static exchange field is produced that eventually destroys the Kondo correlations. We find that such a field can be compensated by an appropriated combination of the spin-dependent chemical potentials leading to the restoration of the Kondo resonance. In this respect, a Kondo impurity may be regarded as a very sensitive sensor for non-equilibrium spin phenomena.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗