arXiv subjects

Roberta Citro

Publications and source records attributed to Roberta Citro.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Josephson junctions, superconducting circuits, and qubit for quantum technologies

In the realm of physics, a pivotal moment occurred six decades ago when Brian Josephson made a groundbreaking prediction, setting in motion a series of events that would eventually earn him the prestigious Nobel Prize eleven years later. This prediction centered around what is now known as the Josephson effect, a phenomenon with far-reaching implications. At the heart of this effect lies the Josephson junction (JJ), a device that has become a linchpin in various scientific applications. This chapter delves into the foundational principles of the Josephson effect and the remarkable properties of JJs. From their role in metrology to their application in radiation detectors, these junctions have ushered in a new era of electronics. Exploiting the unique features of superconductive devices, such as high speed, low dissipation, and dispersion, JJs find today practical implementation in the development of superconductive qubits and nanotechnology applications.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping in a Rice-Mele ladder

Non-Abelian Thouless pumping intertwines adiabatic quantum control and topological quantum transport and it holds potential for quantum metrology and computing. In this work, we introduce a ladder model featuring two doubly-degenerate bands and we show that adiabatic manipulation of the lattice parameters results in non-Abelian Thouless pumping, inducing both the displacement of an initially localized state and a geometric unitary transformation within the degenerate subspace. Additionally, we show that the structure and symmetry of the ladder model can be understood through its connection to a Yang monopole model. The proposed Hamiltonian can be realized using cold atoms in optical lattices, enabling the experimental demonstration of non-Abelian Thouless pumping in a genuinely quantum many-body system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Engineered Josephson diode effect in kinked Rashba nanochannels

The superconducting diode effect, reminiscent of the unidirectional charge transport in semiconductor diodes, is characterized by a nonreciprocal, dissipationless flow of Cooper pairs. This remarkable phenomenon arises from the interplay between symmetry constraints and the inherent quantum behavior of superconductors. Here, we explore the geometric control of the diode effect in a kinked nanostrip Josephson junction based on a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEGs) with Rashba spin-orbit interaction. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the diode effect as a function of the kink angle and the out-of-plane magnetic field. Our analysis reveals a rich phase diagram, showcasing a geometry and field-controlled diode effect. The phase diagram also reveals the presence of an anomalous Josephson effect related to the emergence of trivial zero-energy Andreev bound states, which can evolve into Majorana bound states. Our findings indicate that the exceptional synergy between geometric control of the diode effect and topological phases can be effectively leveraged to design and optimize superconducting devices with tailored transport properties.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Women for Quantum -- Manifesto of Values

Data show that the presence of women in quantum science is affected by a number of detriments and their percentage decreases even further for higher positions. Beyond data, from our shared personal experiences as female tenured quantum physics professors, we believe that the current model of scientific leadership, funding, and authority fails to represent many of us. It is time for a real change that calls for a different kind of force and for the participation of everyone. Women for quantum calls for a joint effort and aims with this initiative to contribute to such a transformation.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2024

Dirac-like fermions anomalous magneto-transport in a spin-polarized oxide two-dimensional electron system

In two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) the breaking of the inversion, time-reversal and bulk crystal-field symmetries is interlaced with the effects of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) triggering exotic quantum phenomena. Here, we used epitaxial engineering to design and realize a 2DES characterized simultaneously by ferromagnetic order, large Rashba SOC and hexagonal band warping at the (111) interfaces between LaAlO$_{3}$, EuTiO$_{3}$ and SrTiO$_{3}$ insulators. The 2DES displays anomalous quantum corrections to the magneto-conductance driven by the time-reversal-symmetry breaking occurring below the magnetic transition temperature. The results are explained by the emergence of a non-trivial Berry phase and competing weak anti-localization / weak localization back-scattering of Dirac-like fermions, mimicking the phenomenology of gapped topological insulators. These findings open perspectives for the engineering of novel spin-polarized functional 2DES holding promises in spin-orbitronics and topological electronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Breathing mode of a quantum droplet in a quasi-one-dimensional dipolar Bose gas

We investigate the breathing mode and the stability of a quantum droplet in a tightly trapped one-dimensional dipolar gas of bosonic atoms. When the droplet with a flat-top density profile is formed, the breathing mode frequency scales as the inverse of the number of atoms in the cloud. This is straightforwardly derived within a phenomenological hydrodynamical approach and confirmed using both a variational method based on a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii action functional and the sum-rule approach. We extend our analysis also to the presence of axial confinement showing the effect of the trap on the density profile and therefore on the breathing mode frequency scaling. Our analysis confirms the stability of the quantum droplet against the particles emission when the flat-top density profile is observed. Our results can be used as a guide to the experimental investigations of collective modes to detect the formation of quantum droplets in quasi-one-dimensional dipolar gases.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Large nonlinear Hall effect and Berry curvature in KTaO3 based two-dimensional electron gas

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at oxide interfaces exhibits various exotic properties stemming from interfacial inversion symmetry breaking. In this work, we report the emergence of large nonlinear Hall effects (NHE) in the LaAlO3/KTaO3(111) interface 2DEG under zero magnetic field. Skew scattering was identified as the dominant origin based on the cubic scaling of nonlinear Hall conductivity with longitudinal conductivity and the threefold symmetry. Moreover, a gate-tunable NHE with pronounced peak and dip was observed and reproduced by our theoretical calculation. These results indicate the presence of Berry curvature hotspots and thus a large Berry curvature triple at the oxide interface. Our theoretical calculations confirm the existence of large Berry curvatures from the avoided crossing of multiple 5d-orbit bands, orders of magnitude larger than that in transition-metal dichalcogenides. NHE offers a new pathway to probe the Berry curvature at oxide interfaces, and facilitates new applications in oxide nonlinear electronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Switching current distributions in ferromagnetic anomalous Josephson junctions

We investigate the switching current distributions of ferromagnetic anomalous Josephson junctions subjected to a linearly increasing bias current. Our study uncovers a significant correlation between the position of the switching current distributions and crucial system parameters, such as the strength of the spin-orbit coupling and the Gilbert damping parameter. This indicates that these parameters can be directly determined through experimental measurements. By conducting a comprehensive analysis of the interplay among noise, magnetization, phase dynamics, and the statistical properties of the switching current distribution, we deepen our understanding of these intriguing cryogenic spintronics devices. These findings hold potential for applications in the field of quantum computing architectures and information processing technologies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Bipolar thermoelectrical SQUIPT (BTSQUIPT)

We theoretically study the quasiparticle current behaviour of a thermally-biased bipolar thermoelectrical superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor, formed by a normal metal wire embedded in a superconducting ring and tunnel-coupled to a superconducting probe. In this configuration, the superconducting gap of the wire can be modified through an applied magnetic flux. We analyse the thermoelectric response as a function of magnetic flux, at fixed temperatures, in the case of a device made of the same superconductor. We demonstrate magnetically controllable, bipolar thermoelectric behaviour and discuss optimal working conditions by looking at the thermoelectric power and other figures of merit of the device.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Thermoelectric signatures of order-parameter symmetries in iron-based superconducting tunnel junctions

Thermoelectrical properties are frequently used to characterize the materials and endow the free energy from wasted heat for useful purposes. Here, we show that linear thermoelectric effects in tunnel junctions with Fe-based superconductors, not only address the dominance between particle and hole states, but even provide information about the superconducting order parameter symmetry. In particular, we observe that nodal order parameters present a maximal thermoelectric effect at lower temperatures than for nodeless cases. Furthermore, we show also that superconducting tunnel junctions between Fe-based and BCS superconductors could provide a thermoelectric efficiency ZT exceeding 6 with a linear Seebeck coefficient around $S\approx 800\;μ\text{V/K}$ at a few Kelvin. These results pave the way to novel thermoelectric machines based on multi-band superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Many-body parametric resonances in the driven sine-Gordon model

We study a quantum many-body variant of the parametric oscillator, by investigating the driven sine-Gordon model with a modulated tunnel coupling via a semi-classical Truncated Wigner Approximation (TWA). We first analyze the parametric resonant regime for driving protocols that retain our model gapped, and compare the TWA to a Time-Dependent Gaussian Variational Ansatz (TGVA). We then turn to a drive which closes the gap, resulting in an enhanced energy absorption. While the TGVA approach breaks down in this regime, we can apply TWA to explore the dynamics of the mode-resolved energy density, and the higher-order correlations between modes in the prethermal heating regime. For weak driving amplitude, we find an exponentially fast energy absorption in the main resonant mode, while the heating of all remaining modes is almost perfectly suppressed on short time scales. At later times, the highly excited main resonance provides effective resonant driving terms for its higher harmonics through the non-linearities in the Hamiltonian, and gives rise to an exponentially fast heating in these particular modes. We capture the strong correlations induced by these resonant processes by evaluating higher order connected correlation functions. Our results can be experimentally probed in ultracold atomic settings, with parallel one-dimensional quasi-condensates in the presence of a modulated tunnel coupling.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Squashed entanglement in one-dimensional quantum matter

Squashed entanglement and its universal upper bound, the quantum conditional mutual information, are faithful measures of bipartite quantum correlations defined in terms of multipartitions. As such, they are sensitive to the fine-grain structure of quantum systems. Building on this observation, we introduce the concept of quantum conditional mutual information between the edges of quantum many-body systems. We show that this quantity characterizes unambiguously one-dimensional topological insulators and superconductors, being equal to Bell-state entanglement in the former and to half Bell-state entanglement in the latter, mirroring the different statistics of the edge modes in the two systems. The edge-to-edge quantum conditional mutual information is robust in the presence of disorder or local perturbations, converges exponentially with the system size to a quantized topological invariant, even in the presence of interactions, and vanishes in the trivial phase. We thus conjecture that it coincides with the edge-to-edge squashed entanglement in the entire ground-state phase diagram of symmetry-protected topological systems, and we provide some analytical evidence supporting the claim. By comparing them with the entanglement negativity, we collect further indications that the quantum conditional mutual information and the squashed entanglement provide a very accurate characterization of nonlocal correlation patterns in one-dimensional quantum matter.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Effect of transverse confinement on a quasi-one dimensional dipolar Bose gas

We study a gas of bosonic dipolar atoms in the presence of a transverse harmonic trapping potential by using an improved variational Bethe ansatz, which includes the transverse width of the atomic cloud as a variational parameter. Our calculations show that the system behavior evolves from quasi-one dimensional to a strictly one-dimensional one by changing the atom-atom interaction, or the axial density, or the frequency of the transverse confinement. Quite remarkably, in the droplet phase induced by the attractive dipolar interaction the system becomes sub-one dimensional when the transverse width is smaller than the characteristic length of the transverse harmonic confinement.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Effect of confinement and Coulomb interactions on the electronic structure of (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface

A tight binding supercell approach is used for the calculation of the electronic structure of the (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. The confinement potential at the interface is evaluated solving a discrete Poisson equation by means of an iterative method. In addition to the effect of the confinement, local Hubbard electron-electron terms are included at mean-field level within a fully self-consistent procedure. The calculation carefully describes how the two-dimensional electron gas arises from the quantum confinement of electrons near the interface due to band bending potential. The resulting electronic sub-bands and Fermi surfaces show full agreement with the electronic structure determined by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy experiments. In particular, it is analyzed how the effect of local Hubbard interactions changes the density distribution over the layers from the interface to the bulk. Interestingly, the two-dimensional electron gas at interface is not depleted by local Hubbard interactions which indeed induce an enhancement of the electron density between the first layers and the bulk.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Resilience of topological superconductivity under particle current

We investigate the robustness of topological superconductors under the perturbing influence of a finite charge current. To this aim, we introduce a modified Kitaev Hamiltonian parametrically dependent on the quasiparticle momentum induced by the current. Using different quantifiers of the topological phase, such as the Majorana polarization and the edge state quantum conditional mutual information, we prove the existence of a finite critical value of the quasiparticle momentum below which edge modes and topological superconductivity survive. We also discuss how a finite current breaks time reversal symmetry and changes the topological class in the Altland-Zirnbauer classification scheme compared to the case of isolated systems. Our findings provide a nontrivial example of the interplay between topology and the nonequilibrium physics of open quantum systems, a relation of crucial importance in the quest to a viable topological quantum electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Hallmarks of non-trivial topology in Josephson junctions based on oxide nanochannels

We investigate the topological properties of a Josephson junction obtained by constraining a two-dimensional electron gas at oxide interface to form a quasi-1D conductor. We reveal an anomalous critical current behaviour with a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the Rashba spin-orbit one. We relate the observed critical current enhancement at small magnetic fields with a non-trivial topology, accompanied by Majorana bound states (MBSs) pinned at the edges of the superconducting leads. Signatures of MBSs also include a sawtooth profile in the current-phase relation. Our findings allow to recognize fingerprints of topological superconductivity in non-centrosymmetric materials and confined systems with Rashba spin-orbit interaction, and to explain recent experimental observations for which a microscopic description is still lacking.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Thouless pumping and topology

Thouless pumping provides one of the simplest manifestations of topology in quantum systems, and has attracted a lot of recent interest, both theoretically and experimentally. Since the seminal works by Thouless and Niu in 1983 and 1984, it is argued that the quantization of the pumped charge is robust against weak disorder, but a clear characterization of the localization properties of the relevant states, and the breakdown of quantized transport in the presence of interaction or out of the adiabatic approximation, has been long debated. Thouless pumping is also the first example of a topological phase emerging in a periodically-driven system. Driven systems can exhibit exotic topological phases without any static analogue and have been the subject of many recent proposals both in fermionic and bosonic systems in diverse platforms ranging from cold atoms to photonics and condensed matter systems. In this respect, this review has a twofold purpose: On the one hand, it serves as a basis to understand the robustness of the topology of slowly-driven systems per se; On the other hand, it highlights the rich properties of topological pumps and their diverse range of applications, for instance, in systems with synthetic dimensions or for understanding higher-order topological phases. These examples underline the relevance of topological pumping for the fast growing field of topological quantum matter.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Temperature-biased double-loop Josephson flux transducer

We theoretically study the behavior of the critical current of a thermally-biased tunnel Josephson junction with a particular design, in which the electrodes of the junction are enclosed in two different superconducting loops pierced by independent magnetic fluxes. In this setup, the superconducting gaps can be modified independently through the magnetic fluxes threading the loops. We investigate the response of the device as a function of the magnetic fluxes, by changing the asymmetry parameter, i.e., the ratio between the zero-temperature superconducting gaps $δ=Δ_{10}/Δ_{20}$, and the temperatures of the two rings. We demonstrate a magnetically controllable step-like response of the critical current, which emerges even in a symmetric junction, $δ=1$. Finally, we discuss the optimal working conditions and the high response of the critical current to small changes in the magnetic flux, reporting good performances of the transducer, with a high transfer function that depends on the operating point and the quality of the junction.

cond-mat.supr-con↗