2021, Hussein, Robert, Belzig, Wolfgang

We investigate the Josephson current through a suspended carbon nanotube double quantum dot which, at sufficiently low temperatures, is characterized by the ground state of the electronic subsystem. Depending on parameters such as a magnetic field or the interdot coupling, the ground state can either be a current-carrying singlet or doublet, or a blockaded triplet state. Since the electron-vibration interaction has been demonstrated to be electrostatically tunable, we study in particular its effect on the current-phase relation. We show that the coupling to the vibration mode can lift the current-suppressing triplet blockade by inducing a quantum phase transition to a ground state of a different total spin. Our key finding is the development of a triple point in the Josephson current parametrized by the resonator coupling and the Josephson phase. The quantum phase transitions around the triple point are directly accessible through the critical current and resilient to moderately finite temperatures. The proposed setup makes the mechanical degree of freedom part of a superconducting hybrid device which is interesting for ultrasensitive displacement detectors.

2019-07-09T17:48:13Z, Mantovani, Mattia, Belzig, Wolfgang, Rastelli, Gianluca, Hussein, Robert

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 each resonator into its ground state. Moreover, we show that a nonlocal heat transfer between the two resonators is activated when opportune resonance conditions are matched. The proposed scheme can act as a heat-pump device with potential applications in heat control and cooling of mesoscopic quantum resonators.

2020-08-31, Rezaei, Ali, Hussein, Robert, Kamra, Akashdeep, Belzig, Wolfgang

We investigate spin-dependent quasiparticle and Cooper-pair transport through a central node interfaced with two superconductors and two ferromagnets. We demonstrate that voltage biasing of the ferromagnetic contacts induces superconducting triplet correlations on the node and reverses the supercurrent flowing between the two superconducting contacts. We further predict that such triplet correlations can mediate a tunable spin current flow into the ferromagnetic contacts. Our key finding is that noncollinearity in combination with spin-mixing results in equal-spin-triplet correlations on the node and leads to a net charge current between the unbiased two magnets. Our proposed device thus enables the generation, control, and detection of the typically elusive equal-spin-triplet Cooper pairs.

2019, Hussein, Robert, Governale, Michele, Kohler, Sigmund, Belzig, Wolfgang, Giazotto, Francesco, Braggio, Alessandro

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 a nonlocal heat exchange between the normal leads mediated by non-local Andreev reflection. We discuss the influence of finite Coulomb interaction and study under which conditions nonlocal power generation becomes possible, and when the Cooper-pair splitter can be employed as a cooling device.

2019-07-09T17:48:13Z, Mantovani, Mattia, Belzig, Wolfgang, Rastelli, Gianluca, Hussein, Robert

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 between the two resonators is activated when opportune resonance conditions are matched. The proposed scheme can act as a heat-pump device with potential applications in heat control and cooling of mesoscopic quantum resonators.