Transport properties of coupled Majorana bound states in the Coulomb blockade regime

authored by: Johan Ekström, Patrik Recher, Thomas L. Schmidt
Abstract: Topologically protected qubits based on nanostructures hosting Majorana bound states (MBSs) hold great promise for fault-tolerant quantum computing. We study the transport properties of nanowire networks hosting MBSs with a focus on the effects of the charging energy and the overlap between neighboring MBSs in short mesoscopic samples. In particular, we investigate structures hosting four MBSs such as T junctions and Majorana boxes. Using a master equation in the Markovian approximation, we discuss the leading transport processes mediated by the MBSs. Single-electron tunneling and processes involving creation and annihilation of Cooper pairs dominate in the sequential-tunneling limit. In the cotunneling regime the charge in the MBSs is fixed and transport is governed by transitions via virtual intermediate states. Our results show that four-terminal measurements in the T junction and Majorana box geometries can be useful tools for the characterization of the properties of MBSs with finite overlaps and charging energy.
External Organisation(s): University of Luxembourg
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Type: Article
Journal: Physical Review B
Volume: 101
ISSN: 2469-9950
Publication date: 15.05.2020
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.195420 (Access: Unknown)

BibTeX

@article{6c315e1a8e7a4c4ba851188d0364b72e,
title = "Transport properties of coupled Majorana bound states in the Coulomb blockade regime",
abstract = "Topologically protected qubits based on nanostructures hosting Majorana bound states (MBSs) hold great promise for fault-tolerant quantum computing. We study the transport properties of nanowire networks hosting MBSs with a focus on the effects of the charging energy and the overlap between neighboring MBSs in short mesoscopic samples. In particular, we investigate structures hosting four MBSs such as T junctions and Majorana boxes. Using a master equation in the Markovian approximation, we discuss the leading transport processes mediated by the MBSs. Single-electron tunneling and processes involving creation and annihilation of Cooper pairs dominate in the sequential-tunneling limit. In the cotunneling regime the charge in the MBSs is fixed and transport is governed by transitions via virtual intermediate states. Our results show that four-terminal measurements in the T junction and Majorana box geometries can be useful tools for the characterization of the properties of MBSs with finite overlaps and charging energy.",
author = "Johan Ekstr{\"o}m and Patrik Recher and Schmidt, {Thomas L.}",
note = "Funding information: J.E. and T.L.S. acknowledge support by the National Research Fund, Luxembourg, under Grants No. ATTRACT 7556175 and No. CORE 11352881. P.R. acknowledges financial support from the Hannover-Braunschweig science cooperation QUANOMET and DFG-EXC 2123, Quantum Frontiers.",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1103/PhysRevB.101.195420",
language = "English",
volume = "101",
journal = "Physical Review B",
issn = "2469-9950",
publisher = "American Institute of Physics",
number = "19",
}