Publications by Constantin Schrade
- 2023
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Tuning the Josephson diode response with an ac current -
Abstract
- Josephson diodes are superconducting elements that show an asymmetry in the critical current depending on the direction of the current. Here, we theoretically explore how an alternating current bias can tune the response of such a diode. We show that for slow driving there is always a regime where the system can only carry zero-voltage dc current in one direction, thus effectively behaving as an ideal Josephson diode. Under fast driving, the diode efficiency is also tunable, although the ideal regime cannot be reached in this case. We also investigate the residual dissipation due to the time-dependent current bias and show that it remains small. All our conclusions are solely based on the critical current asymmetry of the junction, and are thus compatible with any Josephson diode.
Rubén Seoane Souto, Martin Leijnse, Constantin Schrade, Marco Valentini, Georgios Katsaros, Jeroen Danon [pdf]
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Nonsinusoidal current-phase relations in semiconductor–superconductor– ferromagnetic insulator devices -
Abstract
- Coherent tunneling processes of multiple Cooper pairs across a Josephson junction give rise to higher harmonics in the current phase relation. In this work, we propose and study Josephson junctions based on semiconductor-superconductor-ferromagnetic insulator heterostructures to engineer nonsinusoidal current-phase relations. The gate-tunability of charge carriers density in the semiconductor, together with the adjustable magnetization of the ferromagnetic insulator, provides control over the content of the supercurrent harmonics. At finite exchange field, hybrid junctions can undergo a 0\,--\,$\pi$ phase transition, resulting in the supercurrent reversal. Close to the transition, single-pair tunneling is suppressed and the current-phase relation is dominated by the second-harmonic, indicating transport primarily by pairs of Cooper pairs. Finally, we demonstrate that non-collinear magnetization or spin-orbit coupling in the leads and the junction can lead to a gate-tunable Josephson diode effect with efficiencies of up to $\sim30\%$.
Andrea Maiani, Karsten Flensberg, Martin Leijnse, Constantin Schrade, Saulius Vaitiekėnas, Rubén Seoane Souto Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 107, 245415 (2023) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.245415
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Supercurrent reversal in ferromagnetic hybrid nanowire Josephson junctions -
Abstract
- We report supercurrent transport measurements in hybrid Josephson junctions comprised of semiconducting InAs nanowires with epitaxial ferromagnetic insulator EuS and superconducting Al coatings. The wires display a hysteretic superconducting window close to the coercivity, away from zero external magnetic field. Using a multi-interferometer setup, we measure the current-phase relation of multiple magnetic junctions and find an abrupt switch between $\pi$ and 0 phases within the superconducting window. We attribute the 0-$\pi$ transition to the discrete flipping of the EuS domains and provide a qualitative theory showing that a sizable exchange field can polarize the junction and lead to the supercurrent reversal. Both $0$ and $\pi$ phases can be realized at zero external field by demagnetizing the wire.
D. Razmadze, R. Seoane Souto, L. Galletti, A. Maiani, Y. Liu, P. Krogstrup, C. Schrade, A. Gyenis, C. M. Marcus, S. Vaitiekėnas [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.L081301 2204.03202v3 [pdf]
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Tuning the Josephson diode response with an ac current -
Abstract
- 2022
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Entangling Transmons with Low-Frequency Protected Superconducting Qubits -
Abstract
- Novel qubits with intrinsic noise protection constitute a promising route for improving the coherence of quantum information in superconducting circuits. However, many protected superconducting qubits exhibit relatively low transition frequencies, which could make their integration with conventional transmon circuits challenging. In this work, we propose and study a scheme for entangling a tunable transmon with a Cooper-pair parity-protected qubit, a paradigmatic example of a low-frequency protected qubit that stores quantum information in opposite Cooper-pair parity states on a superconducting island. By tuning the external flux on the transmon, we show that non-computational states can mediate a two-qubit entangling gate that preserves the Cooper-pair parity independent of the detailed pulse sequence. Interestingly, the entangling gate bears similarities to a controlled-phase gate in conventional transmon devices. Hence, our results suggest that standard high-precision gate calibration protocols could be repurposed for operating hybrid qubit devices.
Andrea Maiani, Morten Kjaergaard, Constantin Schrade Journal reference: PRX Quantum 3, 030329 (2022) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.030329
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Josephson Diode Effect in Supercurrent Interferometers -
Abstract
- A Josephson diode is a non-reciprocal circuit element that supports a larger dissipationless supercurrent in one direction than in the other. In this work, we propose and theoretically study a class of Josephson diodes based on supercurrent interferometers containing mesoscopic Josephson junctions, such as point contacts or quantum dots, which are not diodes themselves but possess non-sinusoidal current-phase relations. We show that such Josephson diodes have several important advantages, like being electrically tunable and requiring neither Zeeman splitting nor spin-orbit coupling, only time-reversal breaking by a magnetic flux. We also show that our diodes have a characteristic AC response, revealed by the Shapiro steps. Even the simplest realization of our Josephson diode paradigm that relies on only two junctions can achieve efficiencies of up to $\sim40\%$ and, interestingly, far greater efficiencies are achievable by concatenating multiple interferometer loops.
Rubén Seoane Souto, Martin Leijnse, Constantin Schrade Journal reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 267702 (2022) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.267702
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Entangling Transmons with Low-Frequency Protected Superconducting Qubits -
Abstract
- 2021
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Supercurrent parity-meter in a nanowire Cooper-pair transistor -
Abstract
- We study a Cooper-pair transistor realized by two Josephson weak links that enclose a superconducting island in an InSb-Al hybrid nanowire. When the nanowire is subject to a magnetic field, isolated subgap levels arise in the superconducting island and, due to the Coulomb blockade,mediate a supercurrent by coherent co-tunneling of Cooper pairs. We show that the supercurrent resulting from such co-tunneling events exhibits, for low to moderate magnetic fields, a phase offset that discriminates even and odd charge ground states on the superconducting island. Notably,this phase offset persists when a subgap state approaches zero energy and, based on theoretical considerations, permits parity measurements of subgap states by supercurrent interferometry. Such supercurrent parity measurements could, in a new series of experiments, provide an alternative approach for manipulating and protecting quantum information stored in the isolated subgap levels of superconducting islands.
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Higher weak (co)limits, adjoint functor theorems, and higher Brown
representability -
Abstract
- We prove general adjoint functor theorems for weakly (co)complete $n$-categories. This class of $n$-categories includes the homotopy $n$-categories of (co)complete $\infty$-categories -- in particular, these $n$-categories do not admit all small (co)limits in general. We also introduce Brown representability for (homotopy) $n$-categories and prove a Brown representability theorem for localizations of compactly generated $n$-categories. This class of $n$-categories includes the homotopy $n$-categories of presentable $\infty$-categories if $n \geq 2$ and the homotopy $n$-categories of stable presentable $\infty$-categories for any $n \geq 1$.
Hoang Kim Nguyen, George Raptis, Christoph Schrade [pdf]
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Supercurrent parity-meter in a nanowire Cooper-pair transistor -
Abstract
- 2019
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Adjoint functor theorems for ∞‐categories -
Abstract
- Adjoint functor theorems give necessary and sufficient conditions for a functor to admit an adjoint. In this paper we prove general adjoint functor theorems for functors between $\infty$-categories. One of our main results is an $\infty$-categorical generalization of Freyd's classical General Adjoint Functor Theorem. As an application of this result, we recover Lurie's adjoint functor theorems for presentable $\infty$-categories. We also discuss the comparison between adjunctions of $\infty$-categories and homotopy adjunctions, and give a treatment of Brown representability for $\infty$-categories based on Heller's purely categorical formulation of the classical Brown representability theorem.
Hoang Kim Nguyen, George Raptis, Christoph Schrade [pdf] DOI: 10.1112/jlms.12282 1803.01664v3 [pdf]
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Spin-valley density wave in moiré materials -
Abstract
- We introduce and study a minimum two-orbital Hubbard model on a triangular lattice, which captures the key features of both the trilayer ABC-stacked graphene-boron nitride heterostructure and twisted transition metal dichalcogenides in a broad parameter range. Our model comprises first- and second-nearest neighbor hoppings with valley-contrasting flux that accounts for trigonal warping in the band structure. For the strong-coupling regime with one electron per site, we derive a spin-orbital exchange Hamiltonian and find the semiclassical ground state to be a spin-valley density wave. We show that a relatively small second-neighbor exchange interaction is sufficient to stabilize the ordered state against quantum fluctuations. Effects of spin- and valley Zeeman fields as well as thermal fluctuations are also examined.
Constantin Schrade, Liang Fu Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 100, 035413 (2019) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.100.035413
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Entangling spins in double quantum dots and Majorana bound states -
Abstract
- We study the coupling between a singlet-triplet qubit realized in a double quantum dot to a topological qubit realized by spatially well-separated Majorana bound states. We demonstrate that the singlet-triplet qubit can be leveraged for readout of the topological qubit and for supplementing the gate operations that cannot be performed by braiding of Majorana bound states. Furthermore, we extend our setup to a network of singlet-triplet and topological hybrid qubits that paves the way to scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Marko J. Rančić, Silas Hoffman, Constantin Schrade, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 99, 165306 (2019) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.99.165306
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Adjoint functor theorems for ∞‐categories -
Abstract
- 2018
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Andreev or Majorana, Cooper finds out -
Abstract
- We study a Cooper pair transistor realized by a mesoscopic superconductor island that couples to a pair of $s$-wave superconducting leads. For a trivial island, the critical supercurrent between the leads exhibits a well-known $2e$-periodicity in the island-gate charge. Here, we show that for an island with spatially separated zero-energy Majorana or Andreev bound states the periodicity of the magnitude of the critical supercurrent transitions to $1e$ in the island-gate charge. Moreover, for Andreev bound states the current-phase relation displays a sign reversal when the parity of the charge ground state of the island changes between even and odd. Notably, for Majorana bound states the same sign reversal does not occur. Our results highlight the relevance of measuring the full current-phase relation of a Cooper pair transistor for clarifying the nature of zero-energy bound states in candidate systems for topological superconductors and provide an initial step towards integrating Majorana qubits in superconducting circuits.
Constantin Schrade, Liang Fu [pdf]
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Quantum Computing with Majorana Kramers Pairs -
Abstract
- We propose a universal gate set acting on a qubit formed by the degenerate ground states of a Coulomb-blockaded time-reversal invariant topological superconductor island with spatially separated Majorana Kramers pairs: the "Majorana Kramers Qubit". All gate operations are implemented by coupling the Majorana Kramers pairs to conventional superconducting leads. Interestingly, in such an all-superconducting device, the energy gap of the leads provides another layer of protection from quasiparticle poisoning independent of the island charging energy. Moreover, the absence of strong magnetic fields - which typically reduce the superconducting gap size of the island - suggests a unique robustness of our qubit to quasiparticle poisoning due to thermal excitations. Consequently, the Majorana Kramers Qubit should benefit from prolonged coherence times and may provide an alternative route to a Majorana-based quantum computer.
Constantin Schrade, Liang Fu [pdf]
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Majorana Superconducting Qubit -
Abstract
- We propose a platform for universal quantum computation that uses conventional $s$-wave superconducting leads to address a topological qubit stored in spatially separated Majorana bound states in a multi-terminal topological superconductor island. Both the manipulation and read-out of this "Majorana superconducting qubit" are realized by tunnel couplings between Majorana bound states and the superconducting leads. The ability of turning on and off tunnel couplings on-demand by local gates enables individual qubit addressability while avoiding cross-talk errors. By combining the scalability of superconducting qubit and the robustness of topological qubits, the Majorana superconducting qubit may provide a promising and realistic route towards quantum computation.
Constantin Schrade, Liang Fu Journal reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 267002 (2018) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.267002
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Parity-Controlled
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Abstract
- We study a time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor island hosting spatially separated Majorana Kramers pairs, with weak tunnel couplings to two s-wave superconducting leads. When the topological superconductor island is in the Coulomb blockade regime, we predict that a Josephson current flows between the two leads due to a non-local transfer of Cooper pairs mediated by the Majorana Kramers pairs. Interestingly, we find that the sign of the Josephson current is controlled by the joint parity of all four Majorana bound states on the island. Consequently, this parity-controlled Josephson effect can be used for qubit read-out in Majorana-based quantum computing.
Constantin Schrade, Liang Fu Journal reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 267002 (2018) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.267002
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Andreev or Majorana, Cooper finds out -
Abstract
- 2017
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Low-field topological threshold in Majorana double nanowires -
Abstract
- A hard proximity-induced superconducting gap has recently been observed in semiconductor nanowire systems at low magnetic fields. However, in the topological regime at high magnetic fields, a soft gap emerges and represents a fundamental obstacle to topologically protected quantum information processing with Majorana bound states. Here we show that in a setup of double Rashba nanowires that are coupled to an s-wave superconductor and subjected to an external magnetic field along the wires, the topological threshold can be significantly reduced by the destructive interference of direct and crossed-Andreev pairing in this setup, precisely down to the magnetic field regime in which current experimental technology allows for a hard superconducting gap. We also show that the resulting Majorana bound states exhibit sufficiently short localization lengths, which makes them ideal candidates for future braiding experiments.
Constantin Schrade, Manisha Thakurathi, Christopher Reeg, Silas Hoffman, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 96, 035306 (2017) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.96.035306
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DIII topological superconductivity with emergent time-reversal symmetry -
Abstract
- We find a new class of topological superconductors which possess an emergent time-reversal symmetry that is present only after projecting to an effective low-dimensional model. We show that a topological phase in symmetry class DIII can be realized in a noninteracting system coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor only if the physical time-reversal symmetry of the system is broken, and we provide three general criteria that must be satisfied in order to have such a phase. We also provide an explicit model which realizes the class DIII topological superconductor in 1D. We show that, just as in time-reversal invariant topological superconductors, the topological phase is characterized by a Kramers pair of Majorana fermions that are protected by the emergent time-reversal symmetry.
Christopher Reeg, Constantin Schrade, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 96, 161407 (2017) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.96.161407
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Detecting topological superconductivity with
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Abstract
- The interplay of superconductivity, magnetic fields, and spin-orbit interaction lies at the heart of topological superconductivity. Remarkably, the recent experimental discovery of $\varphi_{0}$ Josephson junctions by Szombati et al., Nat. Phys. 12, 568 (2016), characterized by a finite phase offset in the supercurrent, require the same ingredients as topological superconductors, which suggests a profound connection between these two distinct phenomena. Here, we theoretically show that a quantum dot $\varphi_{0}$ Josephson junction can serve as a new qualitative indicator for topological superconductivity: Microscopically, we find that the phase shift in a junction of $s-$wave superconductors is due to the spin-orbit induced mixing of singly occupied states on the qantum dot, while for a topological superconductor junction it is due to singlet-triplet mixing. Because of this important difference, when the spin-orbit vector of the quantum dot and the external Zeeman field are orthogonal, the $s$-wave superconductors form a $\pi$ Josephson junction while the topological superconductors have a finite offset $\varphi_{0}$ by which topological superconductivity can be distinguished from conventional superconductivity. Our prediction can be immediately tested in nanowire systems currently used for Majorana fermion experiments and thus offers a new and realistic approach for detecting topological bound states.
Constantin Schrade, Silas Hoffman, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 95, 195421 (2017) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.95.195421
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Low-field topological threshold in Majorana double nanowires -
Abstract
- 2016
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Universal quantum computation with hybrid spin-Majorana qubits -
Abstract
- We theoretically propose a set of universal quantum gates acting on a hybrid qubit formed by coupling a quantum dot spin qubit and Majorana fermion qubit. First, we consider a quantum dot tunnel-coupled to two topological superconductors. The effective spin-Majorana exchange facilitates a hybrid CNOT gate for which either qubit can be the control or target. The second setup is a modular scalable network of topological superconductors and quantum dots. As a result of the exchange interaction between adjacent spin qubits, a CNOT gate is implemented that acts on neighboring Majorana qubits, and eliminates the necessity of inter-qubit braiding. In both setups the spin-Majorana exchange interaction allows for a phase gate, acting on either the spin or the Majorana qubit, and for a SWAP or hybrid SWAP gate which is sufficient for universal quantum computation without projective measurements.
Silas Hoffman, Constantin Schrade, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. B 94, 045316 (2016) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.94.045316
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Universal quantum computation with hybrid spin-Majorana qubits -
Abstract
- 2015
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Proximity-Induced
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Abstract
- We study two microscopic models of topological insulators in contact with an $s$-wave superconductor. In the first model the superconductor and the topological insulator are tunnel coupled via a layer of scalar and of randomly oriented spin impurities. Here, we require that spin-flip tunneling dominates over spin-conserving one. In the second model the tunnel coupling is realized by an array of single-level quantum dots with randomly oriented spins. It is shown that the tunnel region forms a $\pi$-junction where the effective order parameter changes sign. Interestingly, due to the random spin orientation the effective descriptions of both models exhibit time-reversal symmetry. We then discuss how the proposed $\pi$-junctions support topological superconductivity without magnetic fields and can be used to generate and manipulate Kramers pairs of Majorana fermions by gates.
Constantin Schrade, A. A. Zyuzin, Jelena Klinovaja, Daniel Loss Journal reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 237001 (2015) [pdf] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.237001
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Proximity-Induced
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Abstract