Fluctuation response of a minimal Kitaev chain in nonequilibrium states

TL;DR

This paper investigates electric current fluctuations in a minimal Kitaev chain, revealing distinctive charge signatures associated with Majorana states across different voltage regimes, which can guide future experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of shot noise and differential effective charge in a double quantum dot Kitaev chain, highlighting the fluctuation signatures of Majorana states in nonequilibrium conditions.

Findings

At low bias, differential charge q=e/2 near |ta_n|=|ta_a|

At high bias, q=3e/2 characterizes the Majorana-dominated region

Maximal charge q=2e occurs at specific high voltage values

Abstract

Minimal Kitaev chains provide a unique platform to engineer Majorana states in quantum dots interacting via normal tunneling and crossed Andreev reflection specified by their amplitudes $|\eta_{n,a}|$. Here we analyze fluctuations of electric currents in a double quantum dot Kitaev chain using the differential effective charge $q$, that is the ratio of the differential shot noise and conductance. At low bias voltages $V$ we find that $q=e/2$ in a very narrow vicinity of the point $|\eta_n|=|\eta_a|$ whereas $q=3e/2$ almost in the whole sweet spot region and marks the range where the poor man's Majorana states largely govern the fluctuations. At high $V$ we show that the sweet spot region is still characterized by $q=3e/2$ uniquely identifying the poor man's Majorana states using the high voltage tails. For $|\eta_n|=0$ or $|\eta_a|=0$ we obtain $q=e$ at any $V$. Remarkably, before the asymptotic value $q=e$ is reached for very high $V$, the maximal value $q=2e$ is formed at $|eV|=2\sqrt{|\eta_n|^2+|\eta_a|^2}$. The unique nature and potentially rich fluctuation behavior revealed in this work provide a stimulating ground for the next generation experiments on nonequilibrium shot noise in minimal Kitaev chains.