Singlet and triplet Cooper pair splitting in hybrid superconducting nanowires

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the direct measurement and control of singlet and triplet Cooper pair splitting in hybrid superconducting nanowires, advancing the understanding of equal-spin pairing in engineered quantum systems.

Contribution

It provides the first direct evidence of equal-spin pairing in a semiconducting nanowire with strong spin-orbit interaction, induced by proximity to an s-wave superconductor.

Findings

Equal-spin pairing can be induced and detected in quantum dots.

Breaking a Cooper pair results in two electrons with equal spin polarization.

Controllable detection of singlet and triplet pairing in quantum dots achieved.

Abstract

In most naturally occurring superconductors, electrons with opposite spins are paired up to form Cooper pairs. This includes both conventional $s$-wave superconductors such as aluminum as well as high-$T_\text{c}$, $d$-wave superconductors. Materials with intrinsic $p$-wave superconductivity, hosting Cooper pairs made of equal-spin electrons, have not been conclusively identified, nor synthesized, despite promising progress. Instead, engineered platforms where $s$-wave superconductors are brought into contact with magnetic materials have shown convincing signatures of equal-spin pairing. Here, we directly measure equal-spin pairing between spin-polarized quantum dots. This pairing is proximity-induced from an $s$-wave superconductor into a semiconducting nanowire with strong spin-orbit interaction. We demonstrate such pairing by showing that breaking a Cooper pair can result in two electrons with equal spin polarization. Our results demonstrate controllable detection of singlet and triplet pairing between the quantum dots. Achieving such triplet pairing in a sequence of quantum dots will be required for realizing an artificial Kitaev chain.