Realization of a minimal Kitaev chain in coupled quantum dots

Tom Dvir (), Guanzhong Wang, Nick Loo, Chun-Xiao Liu, Grzegorz P. Mazur, Alberto Bordin, Sebastiaan L. D. Haaf, Ji-Yin Wang, David Driel, Francesco Zatelli, Xiang Li, Filip K. Malinowski, Sasa Gazibegovic, Ghada Badawy, Erik P. A. M. Bakkers, Michael Wimmer and Leo P. Kouwenhoven ()
Additional contact information
Tom Dvir: Delft University of Technology
Guanzhong Wang: Delft University of Technology
Nick Loo: Delft University of Technology
Chun-Xiao Liu: Delft University of Technology
Grzegorz P. Mazur: Delft University of Technology
Alberto Bordin: Delft University of Technology
Sebastiaan L. D. Haaf: Delft University of Technology
Ji-Yin Wang: Delft University of Technology
David Driel: Delft University of Technology
Francesco Zatelli: Delft University of Technology
Xiang Li: Delft University of Technology
Filip K. Malinowski: Delft University of Technology
Sasa Gazibegovic: Eindhoven University of Technology
Ghada Badawy: Eindhoven University of Technology
Erik P. A. M. Bakkers: Eindhoven University of Technology
Michael Wimmer: Delft University of Technology
Leo P. Kouwenhoven: Delft University of Technology

Nature, 2023, vol. 614, issue 7948, 445-450

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05585-1

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