We suggest a way to characterize the coherence of the split Cooper pairs emitted by a double-quantum-dot based Cooper pair splitter (CPS), by studying the radiative response of such a CPS inside a microwave cavity. The coherence of the split pairs manifests in a strongly nonmonotonic variation of the emitted radiation as a function of the parameters controlling the coupling of the CPS to the cavity. The idea to probe the coherence of the electronic states using the tools of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics could be generalized to many other nanoscale circuits.
Motivated by the recent experiments [Scientific reports 6, 23051 (2016), Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 096602 (2015)], we theoretically investigate Cooper pair splitting current in a graphene based Cooper pair beam splitter geometry. By considering the graphene based superconductor as an entangler device, instead of normal (2D) BCS superconductor, we show that the Cooper pair splitting current mediated by Crossed Andreev process is amplified compared to its normal superconductor counterpart. This amplification is attributed to the strong suppression of local normal Andreev reflection process (arising …
A superconductor connected to normal leads allows to generate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs by Cooper pair splitting. It has been realized with quantum dots either defined in carbon nanotubes or InAs nanowires. After establishing the presence of Cooper pair splitting in such devices new works have invesigated the effects of a finite potential difference between the quantum dots to improve and characterize the efficiency of Cooper pair splitting. In this paper we present a generic model for Cooper pair splitting and develop two minimal models specifically for the two experimental realisations a…
Controlled generation and detection of quantum entanglement between spatially separated particles constitute an essential prerequisite both for testing the foundations of quantum mechanics and for realizing future quantum technologies. Splitting of Cooper pairs from a superconductor provides entangled electrons at separate locations. However, experimentally accessing the individual split Cooper pairs constitutes a major unresolved issue as they mix together with electrons from competing processes. Here, we overcome this challenge with the first real-time observation of the splitting of individ…
This letter is devoted to the optimization of the Cooper pair splitting efficiency in a Y-shaped junction. The latter consists of two quantum dots, one superconducting and two normal leads. We tailor the bias in the two normal leads such that the Cooper pairs leaving the superconductor are split up resulting in entangled electrons, one on each quantum dot. We are able to achieve a splitting efficiency of more than 99% which is significantly better than the efficiencies obtained in experiments so far.
Electron waiting times are an important concept in the analysis of quantum transport in nano-scale conductors. Here we show that the statistics of electron waiting times can be used to characterize Cooper pair splitters that create spatially separated spin-entangled electrons. A short waiting time between electrons tunneling into different leads is associated with the fast emission of a split Cooper pair, while long waiting times are governed by the slow injection of Cooper pairs from a superconductor. Experimentally, the waiting time distributions can be measured using real-time single-electr…
A superconductor is a natural source of spin-entangled spatially separated electron pairs. Although the first Cooper-pair splitter devices have been realized recently, an experimental confirmation of the spin state and the entanglement of the emitted electron pairs is lacking up to now. In this paper a method is proposed to confirm the spin-singlet character of individual split Cooper pairs. Two quantum dots (QDs), each of them holding one spin-prepared electron, serve as the detector of the spin state of a single Cooper pair that is forced to split when it tunnels out from the superconductor …
Splitting of Cooper pairs has recently been realized experimentally for s-wave Cooper pairs. A split Cooper pair represents an entangled two-electron pair state which has possible application in on-chip quantum computation. Likewise the spin-activity of interfaces in nanoscale tunnel junctions has been investigated theoretically and experimentally in recent years. However, the possible implications of spin-active interfaces in Cooper pair splitters so far have not been investigated. We analyse the current and the cross correlation of currents in a superconductor ferromagnet beamsplitter includ…
Entanglement, being at the heart of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox, is a necessary ingredient in processing quantum information. Cooper pairs in superconductors - being composites of two fully entangled electrons - can be split adiabatically, thus forming entangled electrons. We fabricated such electron splitter by contacting an aluminum superconductor strip at the center of a suspended InAs nanowire; terminated at both ends with two normal metallic drains. Intercepting each half of the nanowire by gate - induced Coulomb blockaded quantum dot strongly impeded the flow of Cooper pair…
We report on conductance measurements in carbon nanotube based double quantum dots connected to two normal electrodes and a central superconducting finger. By operating our devices as beam splitters, we provide evidence for Crossed Andreev Reflections \textit{tunable in situ}. This opens an avenue to more sophisticated quantum optics-like experiments with spin entangled electrons.
We measure an aluminum superconducting double quantum dot and find that its electrical impedance, specifically its quantum capacitance, depends on whether or not it contains a single broken Cooper pair. In this way we are able to observe, in real time, the thermally activated breaking and recombination of Cooper pairs. Furthermore, we apply external microwave light and break single Cooper pairs by the absorption of single microwave photons.
We theoretically study the spin-resolved subgap transport properties of a Cooper pair splitter based on a triple quantum dot attached to superconducting and ferromagnetic leads. Using the Keldysh Green's function formalism, we analyze the dependence of the Andreev conductance, Cooper pair splitting efficiency, and tunnel magnetoresistance on the gate and bias voltages applied to the system. We show that the system's transport properties are strongly affected by spin dependence of tunneling processes and quantum interference between different local and nonlocal Andreev reflections. We also stud…
Split Cooper pair is a natural source for entangled electrons which is a basic ingredient for quantum information in solid state. We report an experiment on a superconductor-graphene double quantum dot (QD) system, in which we observe Cooper pair splitting (CPS) up to a CPS efficiency of ~ 10%. With bias on both QDs, we are able to detect a positive conductance correlation across the two distinctly decoupled QDs. Furthermore, with bias only on one QD, CPS and elastic co-tunneling can be distinguished by tuning the energy levels of the QDs to be asymmetric or symmetric with respect to the Fermi…
Hybrid quantum dot-oscillator systems have become attractive platforms to inspect quantum coherence effects at the nanoscale. Here, we investigate a Cooper-pair splitter setup consisting of two quantum dots, each linearly coupled to a local resonator. The latter can be realized either by a microwave cavity or a nanomechanical resonator. Focusing on the subgap regime, we demonstrate that cross-Andreev reflection, through which Cooper pairs are split into both dots, can efficiently cool down simultaneously both resonators into their ground state. Moreover, we show that a nonlocal heat transfer b…
A Cooper pair splitter consists of two quantum dots side-coupled to a conventional superconductor. Usually, the quantum dots are assumed to have a large charging energy compared to the superconducting gap, in order to suppress processes other than the coherent splitting of Cooper pairs. In this work, in contrast, we investigate the limit in which the charging energy is smaller than the superconducting gap. This allows us, in particular, to study the effect of a Zeeman field comparable to the charging energy. We find analytically that in this parameter regime the superconductor mediates an inte…
Nanodevices consisting of a quantum dot tunnel coupled to one superconducting and two normal electrodes may serve as a source of entangled electrons. As a result of crossed Andreev reflection the Cooper pair of s-wave character may be split into two electrons and each of them goes into a distinct normal electrode, preserving entanglement. Efficiency of the process depends on the specific system and is tunable by electric means. Our calculations show that in the studied device this efficiency may attain values as large as $80 \%$.
We study adiabatic pumping through a double quantum dot coupled to normal and superconducting leads. For this purpose a perturbation expansion in the tunnel coupling between the dots and the normal leads is performed and processes underlying the pumping current are discussed. Features of crossed Andreev reflection are investigated in the average pumped charge and related to local Andreev reflection in a single quantum dot. In order to distinguish Cooper pair splitting from quasi-particle pumping, we compare the properties of Cooper pair pumping with single-electron pumping in a system with onl…
We study the spin-resolved subgap transport in a triple quantum-dot system coupled to one superconducting and two ferromagnetic leads. We examine the Andreev processes in the parallel and antiparallel alignments of ferromagnets magnetic moments in both the linear and nonlinear response regimes. The emphasis is put on the analysis of the current cross-correlations between the currents flowing through the left and right arms of the device and relevant electron waiting time distributions. We show that both quantities can give an important insight into the subgap transport processes and their anal…
The two electrons of a Cooper pair in a conventional superconductor form a singlet and therefore a maximally entangled state. Recently, it was demonstrated that the two particles can be extracted from the superconductor into two spatially separated contacts via two quantum dots (QDs) in a process called Cooper pair splitting (CPS). Competing transport processes, however, limit the efficiency of this process. Here we demonstrate efficiencies up to 90%, significantly larger than required to demonstrate interaction-dominated CPS, and on the right order to test Bell's inequality with electrons. We…
We investigate the current cross-correlations in a double quantum dot based Cooper pair splitter coupled to one superconducting and two ferromagnetic electrodes. The analysis is performed by assuming a weak coupling between the double dot and ferromagnetic leads, while the coupling to the superconductor is arbitrary. Employing the perturbative real-time diagrammatic technique, we study the Andreev transport properties of the device, focusing on the Andreev current cross-correlations, for various parameters of the model, both in the linear and nonlinear response regimes. Depending on parameters…
Cooper pair splitters are promising candidates for generating spin-entangled electrons. However, the splitting of Cooper pairs is a random and noisy process, which hinders further synchronized operations on the entangled electrons. To circumvent this problem, we here propose and analyze a dynamic Cooper pair splitter that produces a noiseless and regular flow of spin-entangled electrons. The Cooper pair splitter is based on a superconductor coupled to quantum dots, whose energy levels are tuned in and out of resonance to control the splitting process. We identify the optimal operating conditio…
In three-terminal NSN hybrid structures the influence of additional barriers on the nonlocal conductance and on current cross-correlations is studied within a scattering theory. In metallic systems with additional barriers and phase averaging, which simulate disordered regions, local processes can be enhanced by reflectionless tunneling but this mechanism has little influence on nonlocal processes and on current cross-correlations. Therefore Cooper pair splitting cannot be enhanced by reflectionless tunneling. On the contrary, in ballistic systems, additional barriers lead to Fabry-Perot reson…
We demonstrate high efficiency Cooper pair splitting in a graphene-based device. We utilize a true Y-shape design effectively placing the splitting channels closer together: graphene is used as the central superconducting electrode as well as QD output channels, unlike previous designs where a conventional superconductor was used with tunnel barriers to the quantum dots (QD) of a different material. Superconductivity in graphene is induced via the proximity effect, thus resulting in both a large measured superconducting gap $Δ=0.5$meV, and a long coherence length $ξ=200$nm. The graphene-graphe…
We analyze a model of double quantum dot Cooper pair splitter coupled to two ferromagnetic detectors, and demonstrate the possibility of determination of spin correlation by current measurements. We use perturbation theory taking account of the exchange interaction with the detectors, which leads to complex spin dynamics in the dots. This affects the measured spin and restricts the use of ferromagnetic detectors to the nonlinear current-voltage characteristic regime at current plateau, where the relevant spin projection is conserved, in contrast to the linear current-voltage characteristic reg…
New generation of Cooper pair splitters defined on hybrid nanostructures are devices with high tunable coupling parameters. Transport measurements through these devices revealed clear signatures of interference effects and motivated us to introduce a new model, called the 3-sites model. These devices provide an ideal playground to tune the Cooper pair splitting (CPS) efficency on demand, and displays a rich variety of physical phenomena. In the present work we analyze theoretically the conductance of the 3-sites model in the linear and non-linear regimes and characterize the most representativ…
We investigate Andreev transport through a quantum dot attached to two external ferromagnetic leads and one superconducting electrode. The transport properties of the system are studied by means of the real-time diagrammatic technique in the sequential tunneling regime. To distinguish various contributions to Andreev current we calculate the current cross-correlations, i.e. correlations between currents flowing through two junctions with normal leads. We analyze dependence of current cross-correlations on various parameters of the considered model, both in linear and nonlinear transport regime…
Electric weak links, the term used for those parts of an electrical circuit that provide most of the resistance against the flow of an electrical current, are important elements of many nanodevices. Quantum dots, nanowires and nano-constrictions that bridge two bulk conductors (or superconductors) are examples of such weak links. Here we consider nanostructures where the electronic spin-orbit interaction is strong in the weak link but is unimportant in the bulk conductors, and explore theoretically the role of the spin-orbit active weak link (which we call a "Rashba spin splitter") as a source…
Cooper pair splitting (CPS) is a process in which the electrons of naturally occurring spin-singlet pairs in a superconductor are spatially separated using two quantum dots. Here we investigate the evolution of the conductance correlations in an InAs CPS device in the presence of an external magnetic field. In our experiments the gate dependence of the signal that depends on both quantum dots continuously evolves from a slightly asymmetric Lorentzian to a strongly asymmetric Fano-type resonance with increasing field. These experiments can be understood in a simple three - site model, which sho…
We report an experimental study of Cooper pair splitting in an encapsulated graphene based multiterminal junction in the ballistic transport regime. Our device consists of two transverse junctions, namely the superconductor/graphene/superconductor and the normal metal/graphene/normal metal junctions. In this case, the electronic transport through one junction can be tuned by an applied bias along the other. We observe clear signatures of Cooper pair splitting in the local as well as nonlocal electronic transport measurements. Our experimental data can be very well described by using a modified…
We investigate theoretically the properties of a weak link between two superconducting leads, which has the form of a non-superconducting nanowire with a strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling caused by an electric field. In the Coulomb blockade regime of single-electron tunneling, we find that such a weak link acts as a "spin splitter" of the spin states of Cooper pairs tunneling through the link, to an extent that depends on the direction of the electric field. We show that the Josephson current is sensitive to interference between the resulting two transmission channels, one where the spins of b…
We consider a double quantum dot coupled to two normal leads and one superconducting lead, modeling the Cooper pair beam splitter studied in two recent experiments. Starting from a microscopic Hamiltonian we derive a general expression for the branching current and the noise crossed correlations in terms of single and two-particle Green's function of the dot electrons. We then study numerically how these quantities depend on the energy configuration of the dots and the presence of direct tunneling between them, isolating the various processes which come into play. In absence of direct tunnelin…
We investigate theoretically the noise and the full counting statistics of electrons that are emitted from a superconductor into two spatially separated quantum dots by the splitting of Cooper pairs and further on collected in two normal-state electrodes. With negatively-biased drain electrodes and a large superconducting gap, the dynamics of the Cooper pair splitter can be described by a Markovian quantum master equation. Using techniques from full counting statistics, we evaluate the electrical currents, their noise power spectra, and the power-power correlations in the output leads. The cur…
Hybrid nanostructures consisting of two parallel InAs nanowires connected by an epitaxially grown superconductor (SC) shell recently became available. Due to the defect-free SC-semiconductor interface and the two quasi-one-dimensional channels being close by, these novel platforms can be utilized to spatially separate entangled pairs of electrons by using quantum dots (QD) in the so-called Cooper pair splitting (CPS) process. The minimized distance between the QDs overcomes the limitations of single-wire-based geometries and can boost the splitting efficiency. Here we investigate CPS in such a…
We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of an InAs double - nanowire (NW) device consisting of two closely placed parallel NWs coupled to a common superconducting electrode on one side and individual normal metal leads on the other. In this new type of device we detect Cooper-pair splitting (CPS) with a sizeable efficiency of correlated currents in both NWs. In contrast to earlier experiments, where CPS was realized in a single NW, demonstrating an intrawire electron pairing mediated by the superconductor (SC), our experiment demonstrates an inter- wire interaction mediate…
Thermoelectric effect is exploited to optimize the Cooper pair splitting efficiency in a Y-shaped junction, which consists of two normal leads coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor via double noninteracting quantum dots. Here, utilizing temperature difference rather than bias voltage between the two normal leads, and tuning the two dot levels such that the transmittance of elastic cotunneling process is particle-hole symmetric, we find currents flowing through the normal leads are totally contributed from the splitting of Cooper pairs emitted from the superconductor. Such a unitary splitting e…
Cooper pair splitting (CPS) is a way to create spatially separated, entangled electron pairs. To this day, CPS is often identified in experiments as a spatial current correlation. However, such correlations can arise even in the absence of CPS, when a quantum dot is strongly coupled to the superconductor, and a subgap Shiba state is formed. Here, we present a detailed experimental characterization of those spatial current correlations, as the tunnel barrier strength between the quantum dot and the neighboring normal electrode is tuned. The correlation of the non-local signal and the barrier st…
Spin-orbit interaction provides a spin filtering effect in carbon nanotube based Cooper pair splitters that allows us to determine spin correlators directly from current measurements. The spin filtering axes are tunable by a global external magnetic field. By a bending of the nanotube the filtering axes on both sides of the Cooper pair splitter become sufficiently different that a test of entanglement of the injected Cooper pairs through the Bell inequality can be implemented. This implementation does not require noise measurements, supports imperfect splitting efficiency and disorder, and doe…
We describe a Josephson device composed of two superconductors separated by two interacting quantum dots in parallel, as a probe for Cooper pair splitting. In addition to sequential tunneling of electrons through each dot, an additional transport channel exists in this system: crossed Andreev reflection, where a Cooper pair from the source is split between the two dots and recombined in the drain superconductor. Unlike non-equilibrium scenarios for Cooper pair splitting which involves superconducting/normal metal "forks", our proposal relies on an Aharonov-Bohm measurement of the DC Josephson …
The electrons forming a Cooper pair in a superconductor can be spatially separated preserving their spin entanglement by means of quantum dots coupled to both the superconductor and independent normal leads. We investigate the thermoelectric properties of such a Cooper pair splitter and demonstrate that cooling of a reservoir is an indication of non-local correlations induced by the entangled electron pairs. Moreover, we show that the device can be operated as a non-local thermoelectric heat engine. Both as a refrigerator and as a heat engine, the Cooper pair splitter reaches efficiencies clos…
This work discusses theoretically the behavior of a microwave cavity and a Cooper pair beam splitter (CPS) coupled non-resonantly. The cavity frequency pull is modified when the CPS is resonant with a microwave excitation. This provides a direct way to probe the coherence of the Cooper pair splitting process. More precisely, the cavity frequency pull displays an anticrossing whose specificities can be attributed unambiguously to coherent Cooper pair injection. This work illustrates that microwave cavities represent a powerful tool to investigate current transport in complex nanocircuits.
The generation of spin-entangled electrons is an important prerequisite for future solid-state quantum technologies. Cooper pairs in a superconductor can be split into separate electrons in a spin-singlet state, however, detecting their entanglement remains an open experimental challenge. Proposals to detect the entanglement by violating a Bell inequality typically require a large number of current cross-correlation measurements, and not all entangled states can be detected in this way. Here, we instead formulate an entanglement witness that can detect the spin-entanglement using only three cr…
Majorana bound states are spatially localized superpositions of electron and hole excitations in the middle of a superconducting energy gap. A single qubit can be encoded nonlocally in a pair of spatially separated Majorana bound states. Such Majorana qubits are in demand as building blocks of a topological quantum computer, but direct experimental tests of the nonlocality remain elusive. Here we propose a method to probe the nonlocality by means of crossed Andreev reflection, which is the injection of an electron into one bound state followed by the emission of a hole by the other bound state…
In a device with a superconductor coupled to two parallel quantum dots (QDs) the electrical tunability of the QD levels can be used to exploit non-classical current correlations due to the splitting of Cooper pairs. We experimentally investigate the effect of a finite potential difference across one quantum dot on the conductance through the other completely grounded QD in a Cooper pair splitter fabricated on an InAs nanowire. We demonstrate that the electrical transport through the device can be tuned by electrical means to be dominated either by Cooper pair splitting (CPS), or by elastic co-…
We propose an approach allowing the computation of currents and their correlations in interacting multiterminal mesoscopic systems involving quantum dots coupled to normal and/or superconducting leads. The formalism relies on the expression of branching currents and noise crossed correlations in terms of one- and two-particle Green's functions for the dots electrons, which are then evaluated self-consistently within a conserving approximation. We then apply this to the Cooper-pair beam-splitter setup recently proposed [L. Hofstetter et al. Nature (London) 461 960 (2009); Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 1…
The Andreev transport properties of double quantum dot based Cooper pair splitters with one superconducting and two normal leads are studied theoretically in the Kondo regime. The influence of the superconducting pairing correlations on the local density of states, Andreev transmission coefficient and Cooper pair splitting efficiency is thoroughly analyzed. It is shown that finite superconducting pairing potential quickly suppresses the SU(2) Kondo effect, which can however reemerge for relatively large values of coupling to superconductor. In the SU(4) Kondo regime, a crossover from the SU(4)…
We analyze microscopically a Cooper pair splitting device in which a central superconducting lead is connected to two weakly coupled normal leads through a carbon nanotube. We determine the splitting efficiency at resonance in terms of geometrical and material parameters, including the effect of spin-orbit scattering. While the efficiency in the linear regime is limited to 50% and decay exponentially as a function of the width of the superconducting region we show that it can rise up to $\sim 100%$ in the non-linear regime for certain regions of the stability diagram.
A Cooper pair splitter consists of a central superconducting contact, S, from which electrons are injected into two parallel, spatially separated quantum dots (QDs). This geometry and electron interactions can lead to correlated electrical currents due to the spatial separation of spin-singlet Cooper pairs from S. We present experiments on such a device with a series of bottom gates, which allows for spatially resolved tuning of the tunnel couplings between the QDs and the electrical contacts and between the QDs. Our main findings are gate-induced transitions between positive conductance corre…
Recent years have seen a growing interest in strong coupling between plasmons and excitons, as a way to generate new quantum optical testbeds and influence chemical dynamics and reactivity. Strong coupling to bright plasmonic modes has been achieved even with single quantum emitters. Dark plasmonic modes fare better in some applications due to longer lifetimes, but are difficult to probe as they are subradiant. Here, we apply electron energy loss (EEL) spectroscopy to demonstrate that a dark mode of an individual plasmonic bowtie can interact with a small number of quantum emitters, as evidenc…
The quantum entanglement between two qubits is crucial for applications in the quantum communication. After the entanglement of photons was experimentally realized, much effort has been taken to exploit the entangled electrons in solid-state systems. Here, we propose a Cooper-pair splitter, which can generate spatially-separated but entangled electrons, in a quantum anomalous Hall insulator proximity-coupled with a superconductor. After coupling with a superconductor, the chiral edge states of the quantum anomalous Hall insulator can still survive, making the backscattering impossible. Thus, t…
We measure the tunneling rates and coupling coefficients for local Andreev, non-local Andreev and elastic cotunneling processes. The non-local Andreev process, giving rise to Cooper pair splitting, exhibits the same coupling coefficient as the elastic co-tunneling whereas the local Andreev process is more than two orders of magnitude stronger than the corresponding non-local one. Theory estimates describe the findings and explain the large difference in the non-local and local coupling arising from competition between electron diffusion in the superconductor and tunnel junction transparency.
This article discusses how to demonstrate the entanglement of the split Cooper pairs produced in a double-quantum-dot based Cooper pair beam splitter (CPS), by performing the microwave spectroscopy of the CPS. More precisely, one can study the DC current response of such a CPS to two on-phase microwave gate irradiations applied to the two CPS dots. Some of the current peaks caused by the microwaves show a strongly nonmonotonic variation with the amplitude of the irradiation applied individually to one dot. This effect is directly due to a subradiance property caused by the coherence of the spl…
We investigate the nonlocal thermoelectric transport in a Cooper-pair splitter based on a double-quantum-dot-superconductor three-terminal hybrid structure. We find that the nonlocal coupling between the superconductor and the quantum dots gives rise to nonlocal thermoelectric effects which originate from the nonlocal particle-hole breaking of the system. We show that Cooper-pair splitting induces the generation of a thermo-current in the superconducting lead without any transfer of charge between the two normal metal leads. Conversely, we show that a nonlocal heat exchange between the normal …
Based on the Bardeen Cooper Schrieffer (BCS) theory of superconductivity, the coherent splitting of Cooper pairs from a superconductor to two spatially separated quantum dots has been predicted to generate nonlocal pairs of entangled electrons. In order to test this hypothesis, we propose a scheme to transfer the spin state of a split Cooper pair onto the polarization state of a pair of optical photons. We show that the produced photon pairs can be used to violate a Bell inequality, unambiguously demonstrating the entanglement of the split Cooper pairs.
We simulated the radiative response of the cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) coupled to the double quantum dot Cooper pair splitter and analyzed its spectral dependence to get insight into dynamics of the Cooper pair transfers. The model is confined to the energy subspace where two entangled electrons are transferred to two normal electrodes through the inter-dot singlet state on two proximitized quantum dots. Our research is focused on the Andreev scatterings in the subgap regime, for which the local charge susceptibility $Π(ω_p)$ is derived, by means of Keldysh Green functions, in a whole…
