85 research outputs found
Multiple Andreev reflections in diffusive SNS structures
We report new measurements on sup-gap energy structure originating from
multiple Andreev reflections in mesoscopic SNS junctions. The junctions were
fabricated in a planar geometry with high transparency superconducting contacts
of Al deposited on highly diffusive and surface d-doped n++-GaAs. For samples
with a normal GaAs region of active length 0.3um the Josephson effect with a
maximal supercurrent Ic=3mA at T=237mK was observed. The sub-gap structure was
observed as a series of local minima in the differential resistance at dc bias
voltages V=2D/ne with n=1,2,4 i.e. only the even sub-gap positions. While at
V=2D/e (n=1) only one dip is observed, the n=2, and the n=4 sub-gap structures
each consists of two separate dips in the differential resistance. The mutual
spacing of these two dips is independent of temperature, and the mutual spacing
of the n=4 dips is half of the spacing of the n=2 dips. The voltage bias
positions of the sub-gap differential resistance minima coincide with the
maxima in the oscillation amplitude when a magnetic field is applied in an
interferometer configuration, where one of the superconducting electrodes has
been replaced by a flux sensitive open loop.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure
Observation of supercurrent enhancement in SNS junctions by non-equilibrium injection into supercurrent carrying bound Andreev states
We report for the first time enhancement of the supercurrent by means of
injection in a mesoscopic three terminal planar SNSNS device made of Al on
GaAs. When a current is injected from one of the superconducting Al electrodes
at an injection bias , the DC Josephson current between the
other two superconducting electrodes has a maximum, giving evidence for an
enhancement due to a non-equilibrium injection into bound Andreev states of the
underlying semiconductor. The effect persists to temperatures where the
equilibrium supercurrent has vanished.Comment: 7 pages + 3 figures. Resubmitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Contents change
Superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor planar junctions of aluminium on DELTA-doped gallium arsenide
Subgap anomaly and above-energy-gap structure in chains of diffusive SNS junctions
We present the results of low-temperature transport measurements on chains of
superconductor--normal-constriction--superconductor (SNS) junctions fabricated
on the basis of superconducting PtSi film. A comparative study of the
properties of the chains, consisting of 3 and 20 SNS junctions in series, and
single SNS junctions reveals essential distinctions in the behavior of the
current-voltage characteristics of the systems: (i) the gradual decrease of the
effective suppression voltage for the excess conductivity observed at zero bias
as the quantity of the SNS junctions increases, (ii) a rich fine structure on
the dependences dV/dI-V at dc bias voltages higher than the superconducting gap
and corresponding to some multiples of 2\Delta/e. A model to explain this
above-energy-gap structure based on energy relaxation of electron via
Cooper-pair-breaking in superconducting island connecting normal metal
electrods is proposed.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 4 figure
Proximity effects and Andreev reflection in mesoscopic SNS junction with perfect NS interfaces
Low temperature transport measurements on superconducting film - normal metal
wire - superconducting film (SNS) junctions fabricated on the basis of 6 nm
thick superconducting polycrystalline PtSi films are reported. The structures
with the normal metal wires of two different lengths L=1.5 m and L=6m
and the same widths W=0.3m are studied. Zero bias resistance dip related
to pair current proximity effect is observed for all junctions whereas the
subharmonic energy gap structure originating from phase coherent multiple
Andreev reflections have occurs only in the SNS junctions with short wires.Comment: ReVTex, 4 pages, 4 eps figures include
DC current through a superconducting two-barrier system
We analyze the influence of the structure within a SNS junction on the
multiple Andreev resonances in the subgap I-V characteristics. Coherent
interference processes and incoherent propagation in the normal region are
considered. The detailed geometry of the normal region where the voltage drops
in superconducting contacts can lead to observable effects in the conductance
at low voltages.Comment: 11 pages, including 7 postscript file
Proximity Effect and Multiple Andreev Reflections in Chaotic Josephson junctions
We study the dc-current transport in a voltage biased superconductor-chaotic
dot-superconductor junction with an induced proximity effect(PE) in the dot. It
is found that for a Thouless energy of the dot smaller than the
superconducting energy gap , the PE is manifested as peaks in the
differential conductance at voltages of order away from the even
subharmonic gap structures . These peaks are
insensitive to temperatures but are suppressed by a weak
magnetic field. The current for suppressed PE is independent of and
magnetic field and is shown to be given by the Octavio-Tinkham-Blonder-Klapwijk
theory.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Direct demonstration of circulating currents in a controllable -SQUID generated by a 0 to transition of the weak links
A controllable -SQUID is a DC SQUID with two controllable
-junctions as weak links. A controllable -junction consists of a
superconducting - normal metal - superconducting Josephson junction with two
additional contacts to the normal region of the junction. By applying a voltage
over these contacts it is possible to control the sate of the junction,
i.e. a conventional (0) state or a -state, depending on the magnitude of
. We demonstrate experimentally that, by putting one junction into a
-state, a screening current is generated around the SQUID loop at integer
external flux. To be able to do this, we have fabricated controllable
-junctions, based on Cu-Nb or Ag-Nb, in a new geometry. We show that at
1.4 K only the Nb-Ag device shows the transition to a -state as a function
of consistent with theoretical predictions. In a controllable SQUID
based on Nb-Ag we observe, a part from a screening current at integer external
flux, a phase shift of of the oscillations under suitable
current bias, depending on the magnitude of .Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, subm. to Phys. Rev.
Two-dimensional array of diffusive SNS junctions with high-transparent interfaces
We report the first comparative study of the properties of two-dimensional
arrays and single superconducting film - normal wire - superconducting film
(SNS) junctions. The NS interfaces of our SNS junctions are really high
transparent, for superconducting and normal metal parts are made from the same
material (superconducting polycrystalline PtSi film). We have found that the
two-dimensional arrays reveal some novel features: (i) the significant
narrowing of the zero bias anomaly (ZBA) in comparison with single SNS
junctions, (ii) the appearance of subharmonic energy gap structure (SGS), with
up to n=16 (eV=\pm 2\Delta/n), with some numbers being lost, (iii) the
transition from 2D logarithmic weak localization behavior to metallic one. Our
experiments show that coherent phenomena governed by the Andreev reflection are
not only maintained over the macroscopic scale but manifest novel pronounced
effects as well. The behavior of the ZBA and SGS in 2D array of SNS junctions
strongly suggests that the development of a novel theoretical approach is
needed which would self-consistently take into account the distribution of the
currents, the potentials, and the superconducting order parameter.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 5 figure
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