A. C. Seridonio

Fano interference and a slight fluctuation of the Majorana hallmark

According to the Liu and Baranger [Phys. Rev. B 84, 201308(R) (2011)], an isolated Majorana state bound to one edge of a long enough Kitaev chain in the topological phase and connected to a quantum dot, results in a robust transmittance of 1/2 at zero-bias. In this work, we show that the removal of such a hallmark can be achieved by using a metallic surface hosting two adatoms in a scenario where there is a lack of symmetry in the Fano effect, which is feasible by coupling the Kitaev chain to one of these adatoms. Thus in order to detect this feature experimentally, one should apply the following two-stage procedure: (i) first, attached to the adatoms, one has to lock AFM tips in opposite gate voltages (symmetric detuning of the levels Δe) and measure by an STM tip, the zero-bias conductance; (ii) thereafter, the measurement of the conductance is repeated with the gates swapped. For |Δe| away from the Fermi energy and in the case of strong coupling tip-host, this approach reveals in the transmittance, a p...

Probing the antisymmetric Fano interference assisted by a Majorana fermion

As the Fano effect is an interference phenomenon where tunneling paths compete for the electronic transport, it becomes a probe to catch fingerprints of Majorana fermions lying on condensed matter systems. In this work, we benefit of this mechanism by proposing as a route for that an Aharonov-Bohm-like interferometer composed by two quantum dots, being one of them coupled to a Majorana bound state, which is attached to one of the edges of a semi-infinite Kitaev wire within the topological phase. By changing the Fermi energy of the leads and the symmetric detuning of the levels for the dots, we show that opposing Fano regimes result in a transmittance characterized by distinct conducting and insulating regions, which are fingerprints of an isolated Majorana quasiparticle. Furthermore, we show that the maximum fluctuation of the transmittance as a function of the detuning is half for a semi-infinite wire, while it corresponds to the unity for a finite system. The setup proposed here constitutes an alternative experimental tool to detect Majorana excitations.

Decay of bound states in the continuum of Majorana fermions induced by vacuum fluctuations: Proposal of qubit technology

We report on a theoretical investigation of the interplay between vacuum fluctuations, Majorana quasiparticles (MQPs), and bound states in the continuum (BICs) by proposing a new venue for qubit storage. BICs emerge due to quantum interference processes as the Fano effect and, since such a mechanism is unbalanced, these states decay as regular into the continuum. Such fingerprints identify BICs in graphene as we have discussed in detail in Phys. Rev. B 92, 245107 (2015) and Phys. Rev. B, 92, 045409 (2015). Here, by considering two semi-infinite Kitaev chains within the topological phase, coupled to a quantum dot (QD) hybridized with leads, we show the emergence of a novel type of BICs, in which MQPs are trapped. As the MQPs of these chains far apart build a delocalized fermion and qubit, we identify that the decay of these BICs is not connected to Fano and it occurs when finite fluctuations are observed in the vacuum composed by electron pairs for this qubit. From the experimental point of view, we also show that vacuum fluctuations can be induced just by changing the chain-dot couplings from symmetric to asymmetric. Hence, we show how to perform the qubit storage within two delocalized BICs of MQPs and to access it when the vacuum fluctuates by means of a complete controllable way in quantum transport experiments.

Unveiling Majorana quasiparticles by a quantum phase transition: Proposal of a current switch

We propose a theoretical approach based on an interferometer composed by two quantum dots asymmetrically coupled to isolated Majorana quasiparticles (MQPs), lying on the edges of two topological Kitaev chains, respectively, via couplings

Catching the bound states in the continuum of a phantom atom in graphene

(t+\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}})

Non-Zeeman splitting for a spin-resolved STM with a Kondo adatom in a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas

and

Graphene sheet versus two-dimensional electron gas: A relativistic Fano spin filter via STM and AFM tips

(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{-}t)

Encrypting Majorana fermion qubits as bound states in the continuum

. This setup enables us to probe MQPs in a quite distinct way from the zero-bias peak feature. Most importantly, the system behaves as a current switch made by two distinct paths: (i) for the upper dot connected to both chains, the device perceives both MQPs as an ordinary fermion and the current crosses solely the lower dot, since current in the upper dot is prevented due to the presence of the superconducting gap; and (ii) by suppressing slightly the hybridization of the upper dot with one chain, the current is abruptly switched to flow through this dot, once a trapped electron as a bound state in the continuum (BIC) [Phys. Rev. B 93, 165116 (2016)] appears in the lower dot. Such a current switch between upper and lower dots characterizes the quantum phase transition (QPT) proposed here, being the ratio

Effect of interdots electronic repulsion in the Majorana signature for a double dot interferometer

t/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}

Spin-dependent beating patterns in thermoelectric properties : filtering the carriers of the heat flux in a Kondo adatom system

the control parameter of the transition. This QPT is associated with a change from an ordinary fermionic excitation regime to a MQP in the interferometer, which enables not only the fundamental revealing of MQPs, but also yields a current switch assisted by them.