Realization of a minimal Kitaev chain in coupled quantum dots
Tom Dvir (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QRD/Kouwenhoven Lab, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
Guanzhong Wang (TU Delft - QRD/Kouwenhoven Lab, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Nick Van Loo (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - QRD/Kouwenhoven Lab)
Chun Xiao Liu (TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - QRD/Wimmer Group, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
G. P. Mazur (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - BUS/Quantum Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
A. Bordin (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - QRD/Kouwenhoven Lab)
S.L.D. ten Haaf (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - Communication QuTech, TU Delft - QRD/Goswami Lab)
D. van Driel (TU Delft - QRD/Kouwenhoven Lab, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Francesco Zatelli (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - Applied Sciences)
X. Li (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
F.K. Malinowski (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - BUS/TNO STAFF)
Sasa Gazibegovic (Eindhoven University of Technology)
G.H.A. Badawy (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Erik P.A.M. Bakkers (Eindhoven University of Technology)
M.T. Wimmer (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QN/Wimmer Group, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
L.P. Kouwenhoven (TU Delft - QN/Kouwenhoven Lab, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
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Abstract
Majorana bound states constitute one of the simplest examples of emergent non-Abelian excitations in condensed matter physics. A toy model proposed by Kitaev shows that such states can arise at the ends of a spinless p-wave superconducting chain1. Practical proposals for its realization2,3 require coupling neighbouring quantum dots (QDs) in a chain through both electron tunnelling and crossed Andreev reflection4. Although both processes have been observed in semiconducting nanowires and carbon nanotubes5–8, crossed-Andreev interaction was neither easily tunable nor strong enough to induce coherent hybridization of dot states. Here we demonstrate the simultaneous presence of all necessary ingredients for an artificial Kitaev chain: two spin-polarized QDs in an InSb nanowire strongly coupled by both elastic co-tunnelling (ECT) and crossed Andreev reflection (CAR). We fine-tune this system to a sweet spot where a pair of poor man’s Majorana states is predicted to appear. At this sweet spot, the transport characteristics satisfy the theoretical predictions for such a system, including pairwise correlation, zero charge and stability against local perturbations. Although the simple system presented here can be scaled to simulate a full Kitaev chain with an emergent topological order, it can also be used imminently to explore relevant physics related to non-Abelian anyons.