A two-site Kitaev chain in a two-dimensional electron gas

Abstract

Artificial Kitaev chains can be used to engineer Majorana bound states (MBSs) in superconductor-semiconductor hybrids. In this work, we realize a two-site Kitaev chain in a two-dimensional electrongas by coupling two quantum dots through a region proximitized by a superconductor. We demonstrate systematic control over inter-dot couplings through in-plane rotations of the magnetic field and via electrostatic gating of the proximitized region. This allows us to tune the system to sweet spots in parameter space, where robust correlated zero bias conductance peaks are observed in tunnelling spectroscopy. To study the extent of hybridization between localized MBSs, we probe the evolution of the energy spectrum with magnetic field and estimate the Majorana polarization, an important metric for Majorana-based qubits. The implementation of a Kitaev chain on a scalable and flexible 2D platform provides a realistic path towards more advanced experiments that require manipulation and readout of multiple MBSs.