arXiv subjects

Tomohiro Yokoyama

Publications and source records attributed to Tomohiro Yokoyama.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Tuning of Weyl point emergence in multi-terminal Josephson junctions using quantum point contacts

Multi-terminal Josephson junction with three or more superconductors is an attractive quantum system to emerge and tune exotic electronic states. In four terminal Josephson junctions, the Weyl physics, namely topologically protected zero energy state, emerges without assuming any exotic materials. In this study, we consider the four-terminal Josephson junction with the quantum point contact structures between the mesoscopic normal region and four superconducting terminals. The quantum point contacts can tune electrically the number of conduction channels. We theoretically investigate an effect of the increase of channels on the emergence of Weyl points. The increase of channels causes the increase of Andreev bound states in the system, which increase the emergence probability of Weyl points. When all terminals have two channels, the emergence probability is up to 17\%, which is about four times larger than that for all single channel junctions. We consider the balance of the number of conduction channels in the four terminals. When the number of channels is unbalanced, the increase of emergence probability is suppressed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Classification of Weyl point trajectories in multi-terminal Josephson junctions

Topological protection is an attractive signature in both fundamental and applied researches because it provides an exotic and robust state. Multi-terminal Josephson junctions have recently been studied extensively owing to the emergence of topologically protected Weyl points without the need for topological materials. In this study, we examine the dynamic properties of Weyl points in multi-terminal Josephson junctions. The junctions are modulated by external parameters, such as electric gate voltage, magnetic flux, bias voltage. The Weyl points are manipulated and draw trajectories accompanied by pair creation and annihilation. The trajectories form both closed loops and open lines. We classify these trajectories using the Chern number and the phase diagram.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Size dependent optical response in coupled systems of plasmons and electron-hole pairs in metallic nanostructures

In bulk materials, the collective modes and individual modes are orthogonal each other, and no connection occurs if there is no damping processes. In the presence of damping, the collective modes, i.e., plasmons decay into the hot carriers. In finite systems, the collective and individual modes are coupled by the Coulomb interaction. Such couplings by longitudinal (L) field have been intensively investigated, whereas a coupling via transverse (T) field has been poorly studied although the plasmon is excited by an irradiated light on surface and in finite nanostructures. Then, the T field would play a significant role in the coupling between the collective and individual excitations. In this study, we investigate how the T field mediates the coherent coupling. This study is based on the recently developed microscopic nonlocal theory of electronic systems in metals and the results of eigenmode analyses by this theory. To tune the coupling strength in a single nanorod, we examine three parameters: Rod length $L_z$, background refractive index $n_{\rm b}$, and Fermi energy $\varepsilon_{\rm F}$. We discuss the modulation ratio of the spectrum of optical response coefficients to evaluate the coupling by the T field. The T field shifts the collective excitation energy, which causes a finite modulation at both collective excitation and individual excitations. The three parameters can change the energy distance between the collective and individual excitations. Thus, the coherent coupling by the T field is enhanced for a proper tuning of the parameters. The results of the investigation of system parameter dependence would give insight into the guiding principle of designing the materials for highly efficient hot carrier generation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Nanorod Size Dependence of Coherent Coupling between Individual and Collective Excitations via Transverse Electromagnetic Field

Plasmon is a collective excitation in metals formed through the Coulomb interaction between individual excitations of electron-hole pairs. In many previous studies on the plasmonic response, the role of the longitudinal field has been focused almost exclusively on the light-induced plasmonic phenomena, e.g., hot-carrier generation. In our previous study [Phys. Rev. B 105, 165408 (2022)], we have revealed the significant contribution of the transverse electromagnetic field to connect plasmons and electron-hole pairs in nanostructures based on the self-consistent and nonlocal response theory. In this study, we examine how this contribution appears depending on the system parameters, e.g., length and refractive index. The elucidation of roles of coherent coupling between the collective and individual excitations by the transverse field will lead to the principle of controlling bidirectional energy transfer between the plasmons and electron-hole pairs, which could significantly enhance hot-carrier generation efficiency.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Josephson diode effect derived from short-range coherent coupling

Superconducting devices with broken time-reversal and spatial-inversion symmetries can exhibit novel superconducting phenomena. The observation of superconducting diode effects, which is applicable for dissipationless rectification, provides information on the breaking of such symmetries. We experimentally study a Josephson junction (JJ) coupled to another adjacent JJ as a new system exhibiting the superconducting diode effect. We demonstrate that the observed superconducting diode effect can be controlled non-locally based on the phase difference with the adjacent JJ. These results indicate that the time-reversal and spatial-inversion symmetries of a JJ are broken by the coherent coupling to an adjacent JJ, and this enables the engineering of novel superconducting phenomena mediated by coherent coupling among JJs and development of their applications for superconducting diode devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Engineering of anomalous Josephson effect in coherently coupled Josephson junctions

A Josephson junction (JJ) is a key device in the development of superconducting circuits, wherein a supercurrent in the JJ is controlled by the phase difference between the two superconducting electrodes. Recently, it has been shown that the JJ current is nonlocally controlled by the phase difference of another nearby JJ via coherent coupling. Here, we use the nonlocal control to engineer the anomalous Josephson effect. We observe that a supercurrent is produced by the nonlocal phase control even without any local phase difference, using a quantum interference device. The nonlocal phase control simultaneously generates an offset of a local phase difference giving the JJ ground state. These results provide novel concepts for engineering superconducting devices such as phase batteries and dissipationless rectifiers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Phase-dependent Andreev molecules and superconducting gap closing in coherently coupled Josephson junctions

The Josephson junction (JJ) is an essential element of superconducting (SC) devices for both fundamental and applied physics. The short-range coherent coupling of two adjacent JJs forms the Andreev molecule states (AMSs), which will provide a new ingredient to engineer the SC transport in JJs and control the Andreev qubits. However, no experimental evidence of the AMSs in the coupled JJs has been reported. Here we provide the tunnel spectroscopic results of electrically controllable two planar JJs sharing one SC electrode. We discover that the coupled JJ results are highly modulated from the single JJ results, due to formation of the phase-dependent AMSs, meaning that the two JJs are coherently coupled. In addition, the superconducting gap closing due to the AMS formation is observed. Our results would help in understanding the microscopic mechanism of the coherent coupling and promoting the AMS physics to apply for research of the topological superconductivity and quantum information technology.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Comprehensive Microscopic Theory for Coupling of Longitudinal--Transverse Fields and Individual--Collective Excitations

A plasmon is a collective excitation of electrons due to the Coulomb interaction. Both plasmons and single-particle excitations (SPEs) are eigenstates of bulk metallic systems and they are orthogonal to each other. However, in non-translationally symmetric systems such as nanostructures, plasmons and SPEs coherently interact. It has been well discussed that the plasmons and SPEs, respectively, can couple with transverse (T) electric field in such systems, and also that they are coupled with each other via longitudinal (L) field. However, there has been a missing link in the previous studies: the coherent coupling between the plasmons and SPEs mediated by the T field. Herein, we develop a theoretical framework to describe the self-consistent relationship between plasmons and SPEs through both the L and T fields. The excitations are described in terms of the charge and current densities in a constitutive equation with a nonlocal susceptibility, where the densities include the L and T components. The electromagnetic fields originating from the densities are described in terms of the Green's function in the Maxwell equations. The T field is generated from both densities, whereas the L component is attributed to the charge density only. We introduce a four-vector representation incorporating the vector and scalar potentials in the Coulomb gauge, in which the T and L fields are separated explicitly. The eigenvalues of the matrix for the self-consistent equations appear as the poles of the system excitations. The developed formulation enables to approach unknown mechanisms for enhancement of the coherent coupling between plasmons and the hot carriers generated by radiative fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Functionalized high-speed magnon-polaritons resulting from the magnetic antenna effect

Magnon-polaritons (MPs) refer to a light--magnon coupled state and can potentially act as information carriers, possibly enabling charge-free computation. However, the light--magnon coupling is inherently weak. To achieve sufficiently strong coupling, a large ferromagnet or coupling with a microwave cavity is necessary. Herein, we theoretically propose a fundamental platform for magnonic and magnon--optical information storage devices and discuss the transport properties of MP's. The proposed multi-layered structure overcomes the aforementioned issues. Owing to the waveguide modes, magnons placed in a nanometer-thin layer are strongly coupled with light, exhibiting rich functionalities of thick-layer MPs via the `magnetic antenna effect'. Thus, the thin-layer MPs are faster, and the direction is switchable. The results of this study will enable the integration of ferromagnetic micro and nanostructures for MP-based information devices without any restrictions due to cavities.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Nonlocal inelastic scattering of light: Enhanced and noiseless signals in remote-coupled optomechanical systems

The inelastic scatterings of matter systems, such as Raman scattering, contain rich information on mechanical vibrations like as resonant frequencies, which lead to various applications, for example, a sensor for specific molecules. However, observing output signals requires a sensitive setup because an inelastic signal is inherently weak and is disturbed by strong input. In this study, we theoretically investigate a physical scheme to avoid detrimental impact of the input by distancing it from the emitter and greatly enhancing the output signals. If two bodies are coupled mechanically and direct optical communication is forbidden, the nonlocal inelastic scattering signals can be considerably boosted. We demonstrate this mechanism by considering coupled optomechanical systems as a typical example that enables control of the two-body interaction strength. The results present a general scheme to boost nonlocal inelastic scattering for noiseless and pure signals.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Rotation of optically bound particle assembly due to scattering induced spin-orbit coupling of light

The optical binding of many particles has great potential to achieve the wide-area formation of a "crystal" of small materials. Unlike conventional optical binding, where the whole assembly of targeted particles is irradiated with light, if one can indirectly manipulate remote particles using a single trapped particle through optical binding, the degrees of freedom to create ordered structures will be greatly enhanced. In this Letter, we theoretically investigate the dynamics of the assembly of gold nanoparticles that is manipulated using a single particle trapped by a focused laser. As a result, we demonstrate that the spin--orbit coupling and angular momentum generation of light via scattering induce the assembly and rotational motion of particles through indirect optical force. This result opens the possibility of creating ordered structures with a wide area and manipulating them, controlling local properties using scanning laser beams.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Order, disorder and tunable gaps in the spectrum of Andreev bound states in a multi-terminal superconducting device

We consider the spectrum of Andreev bound states (ABSs) in an exemplary 4-terminal superconducting structure where 4 chaotic cavities are connected by QPCs to the terminals and to each other forming a ring. Such a tunable device can be realized in 2DEG-superconductor structures. We concentrate on the limit of a short structure and large conductance of the QPCs where a quasi-continuous spectrum is formed. The energies can be tuned by the superconducting phases. We observe the opening and closing of gaps in the spectrum. This concerns the usual proximity gap that separates the levels from zero energy as well as less usual "smile" gaps that split the levels of the spectrum. We demonstrate a remarkable crossover in the overall spectrum that occurs upon changing the ratio of conductance of the inner and outer QPCs. At big values of the ratio, the levels exhibit a generic behavior expected for the spectrum of a disordered system manifesting level repulsion and "Brownian motion" upon changing the phases. At small values of the ratio, the levels are squeezed into narrow bunches separated by wide smile gaps. Each bunch consists of almost degenerate ABSs. We study in detail the properties of the spectrum in the limit of a small ratio, paying special attention to the crossings of bunches. We distinguish two types of crossings: i. with a regular phase dependence of the levels and ii. crossings where the Brownian motion of the levels leads to an apparently irregular phase-dependence. We work out a perturbation theory to explain the observations. The unusual properties of the spectrum originate from unobvious topological effects. Topology of the first kind is related to the winding of the semiclassical Green's function. It is responsible for the proximity gaps. Topology of the second kind comes about the discreteness of the number of modes and is responsible for the smile gaps.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Singularities of Andreev spectrum in multi-terminal Josephson junction

The energies of Andreev bound states (ABS) forming in a $N$-terminal junction are affected by $N - 1$ independent macroscopic phase differences between superconducting leads and can be regarded as energy bands in $N - 1$ periodic solid owing to the $2π$ periodicity in all phases. We investigate the singularities and peculiarities of the resulting ABS spectrum combining phenomenological and analytical methods and illustrating with the numerical results. We pay special attention on spin-orbit (SO) effects. We consider Weyl singularities with a conical spectrum that are situated at zero energy in the absence of SO interaction. We show that the SO interaction splits the spectrum in spin like a Zeeman field would do. The singularity is preserved while departed from zero energy. With SO interaction, points of zero-energy form an $N - 2$ dimensional manifold in $N - 1$ dimensional space of phases, while this dimension is $N - 3$ in the absence of SO interaction. The singularities of other type are situated near the superconducting gap edge. In the absence (presence) of SO interaction, the ABS spectrum at the gap edge is mathematically analogues to that at zero energy in the presence (absence) of SO interaction. We demonstrate that the gap edge touching (GET) points of the spectrum in principle form $N - 2$ ($N - 3$) dimensional manifold when the SO interaction is absent (present). Certain symmetry lines in the Brillouin zone of the phases are exceptional from this rule, and GET there should be considered separately. We derive and study the effective Hamiltonians for all the singularities under consideration.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Magnetic anisotropy of critical current in nanowire Josephson junction with spin-orbit interaction

We develop and study theoretically a minimal model of semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction that incorporates Zeeman and spin-orbit effects. The DC Josephson current is evaluated from the phase-dependent energies of Andreev levels. Upon changing the magnetic field applied, the critical current oscillates manifesting cusps that signal the $0$-$π$ transition. Without spin-orbit interaction, the oscillations and positions of cusps are regular and do not depend on the direction of magnetic field. In the presence of spin-orbit interaction, the magnetic field dependence of the current becomes anisotropic and irregular. We investigate this dependence in detail and show that it may be used to characterize the strength and direction of spin-orbit interaction in experiments with nanowires.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Critical current oscillation by magnetic field in semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction

We study theoretically the critical current in semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction with strong spin-orbit interaction. The critical current oscillates by an external magnetic field. We reveal that the oscillation of critical current depends on the orientation of magnetic field in the presence of spin-orbit interaction. We perform a numerical simulation for the nanowire by using a tight-binding model. The Andreev levels are calculated as a function of phase difference $φ$ between two superconductors. The DC Josephson current is evaluated from the Andreev levels in the case of short junctions. The spin-orbit interaction induces the effective magnetic field. When the external field is parallel with the effective one, the critical current oscillates accompanying the $0$-$π$ like transition. The period of oscillation is longer as the angle between the external and effective fields is larger.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Anomalous Josephson effect induced by spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman effect in semiconductor nanowires

We investigate theoretically the Josephson junction of semiconductor nanowire with strong spin-orbit (SO) interaction in the presence of magnetic field. By using a tight-binding model, the energy levels $E_n$ of Andreev bound states are numerically calculated as a function of phase difference $φ$ between two superconductors in the case of short junctions. The DC Josephson current is evaluated from the Andreev levels. In the absence of SO interaction, a $0$-$π$ transition due to the magnetic field is clearly observed. In the presence of SO interaction, the coexistence of SO interaction and Zeeman effect results in $E_n (-φ) \ne E_n (φ)$, where the anomalous Josephson current flows even at $φ=0$. In addition, the direction-dependence of critical current is observed, in accordance with experimental results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Josephson Current through Semiconductor Nanowire with Spin-Orbit Interaction in Magnetic Field

We theoretically study the DC Josephson effect of a semiconductor nanowire (NW) with strong spin-orbit interaction when a magnetic field is applied parallel to the NW. We adopt a model of single scatterer in a quasi-one-dimensional system for the case of short junctions where the size of normal region is much smaller than the coherent length. In the case of single conduction channel in the model, we obtain analytical expressions for the energy levels of Andreev bound states, $E_n$, and supercurrent $I$, as a function of phase difference $φ$ between two superconductors. We show the 0-$π$ transition by tuning the magnetic field. In the case of more than one conduction channel, we find that $E_n (-φ) \ne E_n (φ)$ by the interplay between the spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman effect, which results in finite supercurrent at $φ=0$ (anomalous Josephson current) and direction-dependent critical current.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Generation of spin-polarized current using multi-terminated quantum dot with spin-orbit interaction

We theoretically examine generation of spin-polarized current using multi-terminated quantum dot with spin-orbit interaction. First, a two-level quantum dot is analyzed as a minimal model, which is connected to $N$ ($\ge 2$) external leads via tunnel barriers. When an unpolarized current is injected to the quantum dot from a lead, a polarized current is ejected to others, similarly to the spin Hall effect. In the absence of magnetic field, the generation of spin-polarized current requires $N \ge 3$. The polarization is markedly enhanced by resonant tunneling when the level spacing in the quantum dot is smaller than the level broadening due to the tunnel coupling to the leads. In a weak magnetic field, the orbital magnetization creates a spin-polarized current even in the two-terminal geometry (N=2). The numerical study for generalized situations confirms our analytical result using the two-level model.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗