A reliable source of entangled states for use in quantum computing is highly sought after. One such source option is the Cooper pairs in a BCS superconductor. By fabricating a Cooper pair splitter using a central superconducting lead coupled to two quantum dots the hope is that the Cooper pairs can be split and continued entanglement measured. This master thesis describes the fabrication steps and complications of fabricating a Cooper pair splitter using Vanadium as the central superconducting lead. Fabrication of the precise Cooper pair splitter geometry was successfully achieved. Unforeseen obstacles in a series resistance occurring in the normal contacts convoluted the data set however. The superconducting properties of the Vanadium was difficult to observe as well. This was believed to be a consequence of impurities mixing with the Vanadium during the fabrication process. A correction for the series resistance in the normal contacts was achieved and characterization of the nanotubes showed promising results of features needed for entanglement detection. It is also believed that a change in the fabrication process of the Vanadium superconductor is possible. Cooper pair splitters using Vanadium is thus still of interest.
A reliable source of entangled states for use in quantum computing is highly sought after. One such source option is the Cooper pairs in a BCS superconductor. By fabricating a Cooper pair splitter using a central superconducting lead coupled to two quantum dots the hope is that the Cooper pairs can be split and continued entanglement measured. This master thesis describes the fabrication steps and complications of fabricating a Cooper pair splitter using Vanadium as the central superconducting lead. Fabrication of the precise Cooper pair splitter geometry was successfully achieved. Unforeseen obstacles in a series resistance occurring in the normal contacts convoluted the data set however. The superconducting properties of the Vanadium was difficult to observe as well. This was believed to be a consequence of impurities mixing with the Vanadium during the fabrication process. A correction for the series resistance in the normal contacts was achieved and characterization of the nanotubes showed promising results of features needed for entanglement detection. It is also believed that a change in the fabrication process of the Vanadium superconductor is possible. Cooper pair splitters using Vanadium is thus still of interest.
Entanglement is a valuable resource for quantum computing and information technologies. A promising way to obtain spin-entangled electrons is the splitting of Cooper pairs residing in superconductors. This is realized by a nanodevice called Cooper pair splitter. A Cooper pair splitter is realized by tunnel-coupling a superconductor to two quantum dots, which are each further tunnelcoupled to separate terminal leads. This setup enables the extraction and splitting of Cooper pairs from the superconductor into the terminals via the quantum dots. The quantum dots are commonly fabricated from semiconducting materials like InAs and InSb, that can manifest spin-orbit interaction. This thesis studies the effect of spin-orbit interaction on the spin state of the electron pair in the Cooper pair splitter. Activating the spin-orbit effects in a Cooper pair splitter requires a static magnetic field to be applied to the quantum dots. Together with the gate electrodes controlling the electrostatic energy of the quantum dots, the external magnetic field provides a handle for addressing different two-particle spin states. The spin-orbit interaction can be activated by various combinations of the gate voltage and Zeeman magnetic field, that create resonances between different states of the system. The most interesting coherent evolution, that can be invoked in this way, involves the simultaneous activation of the two spin-polarized triplet states. This gives a rise to an entangled Bell state, (|↑↑>+|↓↓>) / √2, that moreover exhibits spin blockade and thus stabilizes entanglement in the Cooper pair splitter. Secondly, the spin-orbit interaction can be used to bypass suppressed Cooper pair tunneling at a high superconductor-quantum dots detuning. Introducing a large Zeeman magnetic field allows Cooper pairs to tunnel in to the dots given that their spin state flips to the triplet |↓↓>. Although this regime lacks spin-entanglement, it is of interest for creating triplet Cooper pairs and spin-polarized superconducting currents.
We propose a device which implements a solid-state nanostructured electron entangler. It consists of a single-walled carbon nanotube connected at both ends to normal state electrodes and coupled in its middle part to a superconducting nanowire. Such a device acts as an electronic beam splitter for correlated electrons originating from the superconductor. We first show that it can be used to detect positive (bosonic-like) noise correlations in a fermionic system. Furthermore, it provides a source for entangled electrons in the two arms of the splitter. To generate entangled electron states, we propose two kinds of set-up based either on spin or energy filters. They respectively consist of ferromagnetic pads and of a system of electrostatic gates which define quantum dots. The fabrication of this device would require state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques, carbon nanotube synthesis and integration, as well as atomic force microscopy imaging and manipulation.
This thesis presents an effort towards integration of superconductor-contacted carbon nanotubes into microwave circuits, as a new tool for building quantum circuits. Carbon nanotubes show a wealth of quantum phenomena demonstrated in transport experiments by different groups in the last two decades. With the development of circuit QED, one can study these phenomena using on-chip microwave circuits. Moreover, in superconductor-contacted nanotubes, Andreev reflection of the particles at the interfaces leads to the formation of Andreev bound states. A pair of such states can potentially serve as a new type of a qubit. Here, fabrication and measurement techniques of superconductor contacted carbon nanotubes and superconductor/normal metal bilayer microwave circuits is developed, and their behaviour is studied. In superconductor-contacted nanotubes the full range of contact transparencies is investigated, showing different transport phenomena such as Coulomb blockade, Kondo effect and Fabry-Pérot interference. In addition, the interplay of these effects with multiple Andreev reflection phenomena and the superconducting proximityinduced non-dissipative current transport through the nanotube is studied. The proximity effect is studied using microwave resonators made of superconductor/ normal metal bilayers. Characteristic parameters of the bilayers, such as the critical temperature and the magnetic penetration depth are reliably extracted from the measurements. Finally, the two experiments are brought together in the first step towards using superconductor-contacted nanotubes in quantum microwave circuits. The successful realization of such circuit is achieved, where the Coulomb blockade in a nanotube quantum dot is probed with a microwave field.
Generation and manipulation of quantum entangled electrons is an important concept in quantum mechanics, and necessary for advances in quantum information processing; but not yet established in solid state systems. A promising device is a superconductor-two quantum dots Cooper pair splitter. Early nanowire based devices, while efficient, are limited in scalability and further electron manipulation. We demonstrate an optimized, high efficiency, CVD grown graphene-based Cooper pair splitter. Our device is designed to induce superconductivity in graphene via the proximity effect, resulting in both a large superconducting gap Δ = 0.5 meV, and coherence length ξ = 200 nm. The flat nature of the device lowers parasitic capacitance, increasing charging energy EC. Our design also eases geometric restrictions and minimizes output channel separation. As a result we measure a visibility of up to 86% and a splitting efficiency of up to 62%. This will pave the way towards near unity efficiencies, long distance splitting, and post-splitting electron manipulation.
Entanglement, being at the heart of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox, is a necessary ingredient in processing quantum information. Cooper pairs in superconductors - being composites of two fully entangled electrons - can be split adiabatically, thus forming entangled electrons. We fabricated such electron splitter by contacting an aluminum superconductor strip at the center of a suspended InAs nanowire; terminated at both ends with two normal metallic drains. Intercepting each half of the nanowire by gate - induced Coulomb blockaded quantum dot strongly impeded the flow of Cooper pairs due to large charging energy, while still permitting passage of single electrons. Here, we provide conclusive evidence of extremely high efficiency Cooper pairs splitting via observing positive average (conductance) and time (shot noise) correlations of the split electrons in the two opposite drains of the nanowire. Moreover, The actual charge of the injected quasiparticles was verified by shot noise measurements.
The two electrons of a Cooper pair in a conventional superconductor form a spin singlet and therefore a maximally entangled state. Recently, it was demonstrated that the two particles can be extracted from the superconductor into two spatially separated contacts via two quantum dots in a process called Cooper pair splitting (CPS). Competing transport processes, however, limit the efficiency of this process. Here we demonstrate efficiencies up to 90%, significantly larger than required to demonstrate interaction-dominated CPS, and on the right order to test Bell's inequality with electrons. We compare the CPS currents through both quantum dots, for which large apparent discrepancies are possible. The latter we explain intuitively and in a semiclassical master equation model. Large efficiencies are required to detect electron entanglement and for prospective electronics-based quantum information technologies.