Communications Physics (Jul 2023)
Intermediate states in Andreev bound state fusion
Abstract
Abstract Hybridization is one of the most fundamental quantum mechanical phenomena, with the text book example of binding two hydrogen atoms in a hydrogen molecule. Here we report tunnel spectroscopy experiments illustrating the hybridization of another type of discrete quantum states, namely of superconducting subgap states that form in segments of a semiconducting nanowire in contact with superconducting reservoirs. We discuss a collection of intermediate states with unique (tunnel) spectroscopic fingerprints in the process of merging well-known individual bound states, hybridized by a central quantum dot and eventually coherently linking the reservoirs, carrying a Josephson current. These coupled and fused Andreev bound states can be seen as superconducting analogues to atomic and molecular single electron states in nature, and explain a variety of recent bound state spectra, with specific fingerprints that will have to be winnowed in future Majorana fusion experiments.