Nonlocal Andreev reflection and spin current in a three-terminal Aharonov--Bohm interferometer

This paper theoretically reports the nonlocal Andreev reflection and spin current in a normal metal-ferromagnetic metal-superconducting Aharonov--Bohm interferometer. It is found that the electronic current and spin current are sensitive to systematic parameters, such as the gate voltage of quantum dots and the external magnetic flux. The electronic current in the normal metal lead results from two competing processes: quasiparticle transmission and nonlocal Andreev reflection. The appearance of zero spin-up electronic current (or spin-down electronic current) signals the existence of nonlocal Andreev reflection, and the presence of zero electronic current results in the appearance of pure spin current.     

Nonlocal Andreev reflection with Rashba spin-orbital interaction in a triple-quantum-dot ring

We theoretically studied the nonlocal Andreev reflection with Rashba spin-orbital interaction in a triple-quantumdot(QD) ring,which is introduced as Rashba spin-orbital interaction to act locally on one component quantum dot.It is found that the electronic current and spin current are sensitive to the systematic parameters.The interdot spin-flip term does not play a leading role in causing electronic and spin currents.Otherwise the spin precessing term leads to shift of the peaks of the the spin-up and spin-down electronic currents in different directions and results in the spin current.Moreover,the spin-orbital interaction suppresses the nonlocal Andreev reflection,so we cannot obtain the pure spin current.     

Dynamics of spin transport in voltage-biased Josephson junctions

We investigate spin transport in voltage-biased spin-active Josephson junctions. The interplay of spin filtering, spin mixing, and multiple Andreev reflection leads to nonlinear voltage dependence of the dc and ac spin current. We compute the voltage characteristics of the spin current (IS) for superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor Josephson junctions. The subharmonic gap structure of IS(V) is shown to be sensitive to the degree of spin mixing generated by the ferromagnetic interface, and exhibits a pronounced even-odd effect associated with spin transport during multiple Andreev reflection processes. For strong spin mixing both the magnitude and the direction of the dc spin current can be sensitively controlled by the bias voltage.     

Generation and manipulation of spin current via a hybrid four-terminal single-molecule junction

We present a new device which consists of a molecular quantum dot (MQD) attached to a normal-metal, two ferromagnetic (FM), and a superconducting leads. The spin-related Andreev reflection (AR) current and the spin-dependent single-particle tunneling current through the normal-metal terminal are obtained, and it is found that the spin current exhibits the transistor-like behavior. The joint effects of the coherent spin flip and the angle between magnetic moments of the two FM leads on the spin current are also studied, these results provide the possibility to manipulate the spin current with the system parameters.     

Nonlocal Andreev reflection in a three-terminal Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

We theoretically report a nonlocal Andreev reflection in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, which is a three-terminal normal metal/superconductor (NS) mesoscopic hybrid system. It is found that this nonlocal Andreev reflection is sensitive to the systematic parameters, such as the bias voltages, the quantum dot levels, and the external magnetic flux. If we set the chemical potential of one normal metal lead equal to zero, the electronic current in the lead results from two competing processes: the quasiparticle transmission and nonlocal Andreev reflection. The appearance of zero electronic current signals unambiguously the existence of this nonlocal Andreev reflection.     

Incomplete Andreev reflection in a clean SFS junction

We study the stationary Josephson effect in a ballistic superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction for arbitrarily large spin polarizations. Due to the exchange interaction in the ferromagnet, the Andreev reflection is incomplete. We describe how this effect modifies the Josephson current in the crossover from a superconductor/normal metal/superconductor junction to a superconductor/half metal/superconductor junction.     

Current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/s-wave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling

We have studied the characteristics of current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in semiconductor-nanowire/swave superconductor junctions with strong spin–orbit coupling. It was found that within some parameter regions the magnitude of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization density in such structures will increase(or decrease) with the decrease(or increase) of the charge current density, in contrast to that found in normal spin–orbit coupled semiconductor structures. It was also found that the unusual characteristics of the current-induced nonequilibrium spin polarization in such structures can be well explained by the effect of the Andreev reflection.     

Size dependence of current spin polarization through superconductor/ferromagnet nanocontacts

The spin polarization P of the transport current through the interface between superconducting Al and ferromagnetic Fe is determined by means of Andreev reflection at nanostructured point contacts. We observe a systematic decrease of P with decreasing contact resistance. Our data provide evidence for the reduction of P by spin-orbit scattering and thus establish a link between density of states and transport spin polarizations.     

Majorana fermion realization and relevant transport processes in a triple-quantum dot system

Nonequilibrium electronic transports through a system hosting three quantum dots hybridized with superconductors are investigated. By tuning the relative positions of the dot levels, we illustrate the existence of Majorana fermions and show that the Majorana feimions will either survive separately on single dots or distribute themselves among different dots with tunable probabilities. As a result, different physical mechanisms appear, including local Andreev reflection(LAR),cross Andreev reflection(CAR), and cross resonant tunneling(CRT). The resulting characteristics may be used to reveal the unique properties of Majorana fermions. In addition, we discuss the spin-polarized transports and find a pure spin current and a spin filter effect due to the joint effect of CRT and CAR, which is important for designing spintronic devices.     

Nanotransformation and current fluctuations in exciton condensate junctions

We analyze the nonlinear transport properties of a bilayer exciton condensate that is contacted by four metallic leads by calculating the full counting statistics of electron transport for arbitrary system parameters. Despite its formal similarity to a superconductor the transport properties of the exciton condensate turn out to be completely different. We recover the generic features of exciton condensates such as counterpropagating currents driven by excitonic Andreev reflections and make predictions for nonlinear transconductance between the layers as well as for the current (cross)correlations and generalized Johnson-Nyquist relationships. Finally, we explore the possibility of connecting another mesoscopic system (in our case a quantum point contact) to the bottom layer of the exciton condensate and show how the excitonic Andreev reflections can be used for transforming voltage at the nanoscale.     

Surface bound states and spin currents in noncentrosymmetric superconductors

We investigate the ground state properties of a noncentrosymmetric superconductor near a surface. We determine the spectrum of Andreev bound states due to surface-induced mixing of bands with opposite spin helicities for a Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. We find that the order parameter suppression qualitatively changes the bound state spectrum. The spin structure of Andreev states leads to a spin supercurrent along the interface, which is strongly enhanced compared to the normal state spin current. Particle and hole coherence amplitudes show Faraday-like rotations of the spin along quasiparticle trajectories.     

Crossed Andreev reflection in a graphene bipolar transistor

We investigate the crossed Andreev reflections between two graphene leads connected by a narrow superconductor. When the leads are, respectively, of the n and p type, we find that electron elastic cotunneling and local Andreev reflection are both eliminated even in the absence of any valley-isospin or spin polarizations. We further predict oscillations of both diagonal and cross conductances as a function of the distance between the graphene-superconductor interfaces.     

Spin-dependent Andreev reflection in a three-terminal Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with coherent indirect coupling

Within the framework of non-equilibrium Green’s functions, we investigate the spin-dependent Andreev reflection (AR) in a three-terminal Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with double quantum dot, taking account of the coherent indirect coupling via the superconducting reservoir. It is found that the time-reversal symmetry is broken by the crossed Andreev reflection (CAR) process, and moreover that the spin-value effect of the linear conductance, the spin-polarised AR current, and a pure spin current can be generated by means of the normal AR and the CAR. Expressions for the AR conductances (the transport coefficients) governing the AR properties of this system are derived analytically. The effect of the coherent indirect coupling on the conductance, the Andreev reflected tunneling magnetoresistance (ARTMR), and the spin-related current in the presence of the AR are amply analyzed. Our results indicate that the optimal properties of this system can be realised by tuning the external parameters.     

Is CrO2 fully spin polarized? Analysis of Andreev spectra and excess current

We report an extensive theoretical analysis of point-contact Andreev reflection data available in the literature on ferromagnetic CrO2. We find that the spectra can be well understood within a model of fully spin-polarized bands in CrO2 together with spin-active scattering at the contact. This is in contrast to analysis of the data within extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk models, which lead to a spin polarization varying between 50% and 100% depending on the transparency of the interface. We propose to utilize both the temperature dependence of the spectra and the excess current at voltages above the gap to resolve the spin polarization in CrO2 in a new generation of experiments.     

Nonequilibrium Kondo effect and Andreev reflection through double quantum dots with spin-flip scattering

The Kondo effect and the Andreev reflection tunneling through a normal (ferromagnet)-double quantum dots-superconductor hybrid system is examined in the low temperature by using the nonequilibrium Green's function technique in combination with the slave-boson mean-field theory. The interplay of the Kondo physics and the Andreev bound state physics can be controlled by varying the interdot hopping strength. The Andreev differential conductance is mainly determined by the competition between Kondo states and Andreev states. The spin-polarization of the ferromagnetic electrode increases the zero-bias Kondo peak. The spin-flip scattering influences the Kondo effect and the Andreev reflection in a nontrivial way. For the ferromagnetic electrode with sufficiently large spin polarization, the negative Andreev differential conductance is found when the spin flip strength in the double quantum dots is sufficiently strong.     

Properties of pseudospin polarization on a graphene-based spin singlet superconducting junction

We investigate theoretically transport characteristics in a graphene-based pseudospinmagnet/superconductor junction, including the s-wave and the d-wave pairing symmetry potential in the superconducting region. It is found that the pseudospin polarization, in sharp contrast to spin polarization in the graphene-based ferromagnet/superconductor junction, holds no influence on the specular Andreev reflection for a negligible Fermi energy. Furthermore, the Fano factor is cru-ially affected by the zero bias state. Therefore, we suggest here that the findings could shed light on the realization of graphene-based pseudospintronics devices and provide a new way to detect the specular Andreev reflection and the zero bias state in the actual experiments.     

The Josephson effect between triplet superconductors through a finite ferromagnetic barrier

Charge and spin transport in a junction involving two triplet superconductors and a ferromagnetic barrier are studied. We use Bogoliubov-de Gennes wavefunctions to construct the Green's function, from which we obtain the Josephson currents in terms of the Andreev reflection coefficients. We focus on the consequences of a finite barrier width for the occurrence of 0-π transitions and for the spin currents, and examine the appropriateness of the common δ-function approximation for the tunneling region.     

Charge transport through ferromagnet/two-dimensional electron gas/d-wave superconductor junctions with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Along the lines of Blonder, Tinkham and Klapwijk, we investigate the charge transport through ferromagnet/two-dimensional electronic gas/d-wave superconductor (F/2DEG/S) junctions in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling and focus our attention on the interplay between spin polarization and spin precession. At zero spin polarization, the spin-mixing scattering resulted from Rashba SO coupling decreases the zero-bias conductance peak. Under spin polarization, spin precession introduces novel Andreev reflection, which competes with the effect of spin-mixing scattering. If the F layer is a half metal, the later effect is overwhelmed by that of novel Andreev reflection. As a result, the zero-bias conductance dip caused by spin polarization is enhanced, and at strong Rashba SO coupling, a split zero-bias peak is found in the gap. In an intermediate region where the two effects are comparable with each other, the zero-bias conductance shows a reentrant behavior as a function of Rashba SO coupling.     

Majorana fermion modulated nonequilibrium transport through double quantum dots

Nonequilibrium electronic transports through a double-QD-Majorana coupling system are studied with a purpose to extract the information to identify Majorana bound states (MBSs). It is found that MBSs can help form various transport processes, including the nonlocal crossed Andreev reflection, local resonant Andreev reflection, and cotunneling, depending on the relative position of two dot levels. These processes enrich the signature of average currents and noise correlations to probe the nature of MBSs. We further demonstrate the switching between the current peaks of crossed Andreev reflection and cotunneling, which is closely related to the nonlocal nature of Majorana fermions. We also propose effective physical pictures to understand these Majorana-assisted transports.     

Andreev quantum dots for spin manipulation

We investigate the feasibility of manipulating individual spin in a superconducting junction where Bogoliubov quasiparticles can be trapped in discrete Andreev levels. We call this system an Andreev quantum dot (AQD) to be contrasted with a common semiconductor quantum dot. We show that the AQD can be brought into a spin-1/2 state. The coupling between the spin and superconducting current facilitates manipulation and measurement of this state. We demonstrate that one can operate two inductively coupled AQDs as a XOR gate; this enables quantum computing applications.