Niobium-based superconducting nano-devices fabrication using all-metal suspended masks

We report a novel method for the fabrication of superconducting nanodevices based on niobium. The well-known difficulties of lithographic patterning of high-quality niobium are overcome by replacing the usual organic resist mask by a metallic one. The quality of the fabrication procedure is demonstrated by the realization and characterization of long and narrow superconducting lines and niobium-gold-niobium proximity SQUIDs

Magneto-transport through graphene nano-ribbons

We investigate magneto-transport through graphene nano-ribbons as a function of gate and bias voltage, and temperature. We find that a magnetic field systematically leads to an increase of the conductance on a scale of a few tesla. This phenomenon is accompanied by a decrease in the energy scales associated to charging effects, and to hopping processes probed by temperature-dependent measurements. All the observations can be interpreted consistently in terms of strong-localization effects caused by the large disorder present, and exclude that the insulating state observed in nano-ribbons can be explained solely in terms of a true gap between valence and conduction band.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Superconducting diamagnetic fluctuations in ropes of carbon nanotubes

We report low-temperature magnetisation measurements on a large number of purified ropes of single wall carbon nanotubes. In spite of a large superparamagnetic contribution due to the small ferromagnetic catalytical particles still present in the sample, at low temperature ($T < 0.5K$) and low magnetic field ($H < 80 Oe$), a diamagnetic signal is detectable. This low temperature diamagnetism can be interpreted as the Meissner effect in ropes of carbon nanotubes which have previously been shown to exhibit superconductivity from transport measurements.Comment: 10 pages 3 figure

Sensitivity of the superconducting state in thin films

For more than two decades, there have been reports on an unexpected metallic state separating the established superconducting and insulating phases of thin-film superconductors. To date, no theoretical explanation has been able to fully capture the existence of such a state for the large variety of superconductors exhibiting it. Here, we show that for two very different thin-film superconductors, amorphous indium oxide and a single crystal of 2H-NbSe2, this metallic state can be eliminated by adequately filtering external radiation. Our results show that the appearance of temperature-independent, metallic-like transport at low temperatures is sufficiently described by the extreme sensitivity of these superconducting films to external perturbations. We relate this sensitivity to the theoretical observation that, in two dimensions, superconductivity is only marginally stable

Scanning-gate microscopy of semiconductor nanostructures: an overview

This paper presents an overview of scanning-gate microscopy applied to the imaging of electron transport through buried semiconductor nanostructures. After a brief description of the technique and of its possible artifacts, we give a summary of some of its most instructive achievements found in the literature and we present an updated review of our own research. It focuses on the imaging of GaInAs-based quantum rings both in the low magnetic field Aharonov-Bohm regime and in the high-field quantum Hall regime. In all of the given examples, we emphasize how a local-probe approach is able to shed new, or complementary, light on transport phenomena which are usually studied by means of macroscopic conductance measurements.Comment: Invited talk by SH at 39th "Jaszowiec" International School and Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, Krynica-Zdroj, Poland, June 201

Single and two-particle energy gaps across the disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition

The competition between superconductivity and localization raises profound questions in condensed matter physics. In spite of decades of research, the mechanism of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) and the nature of the insulator are not understood. We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations that treat, on an equal footing, inhomogeneous amplitude variations and phase fluctuations, a major advance over previous theories. We gain new microscopic insights and make testable predictions for local spectroscopic probes. The energy gap in the density of states survives across the transition, but coherence peaks exist only in the superconductor. A characteristic pseudogap persists above the critical disorder and critical temperature, in contrast to conventional theories. Surprisingly, the insulator has a two-particle gap scale that vanishes at the SIT, despite a robust single-particle gap.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures (plus supplement with 4 pages, 5 figures

Two-dimensional quantum oscillations of the conductance at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces

We report on a study of magnetotransport in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces characterized by mobilities of the order of several thousands cm$^{2}$/Vs. We observe Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations that indicate a two-dimensional character of the Fermi surface. The frequency of the oscillations signals a multiple sub-bands occupation in the quantum well or a multiple valley configuration. From the temperature dependence of the oscillation amplitude we extract an effective carrier mass $m^{*}\simeq1.45$\,$m_{e}$. An electric field applied in the back-gate geometry increases the mobility, the carrier density and the oscillation frequency.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Joule overheating poisons the fractional ac Josephson effect in topological Josephson junctions

Topological Josephson junctions designed on the surface of a 3D-topological insulator (TI) harbor Majorana bound states (MBS's) among a continuum of conventional Andreev bound states. The distinct feature of these MBS's lies in the $4\pi$-periodicity of their energy-phase relation that yields a fractional ac Josephson effect and a suppression of odd Shapiro steps under $r\!f$ irradiation. Yet, recent experiments showed that a few, or only the first, odd Shapiro steps are missing, casting doubts on the interpretation. Here, we show that Josephson junctions tailored on the large bandgap 3D TI Bi$_2$Se$_3$ exhibit a fractional ac Josephson effect acting on the first Shapiro step only. With a modified resistively shunted junction model, we demonstrate that the resilience of higher order odd Shapiro steps can be accounted for by thermal poisoning driven by Joule overheating. Furthermore, we uncover a residual supercurrent at the nodes between Shapiro lobes, which provides a direct and novel signature of the current carried by the MBS. Our findings showcase the crucial role of thermal effects in topological Josephson junctions and lend support to the Majorana origin of the partial suppression of odd Shapiro steps.Comment: Revised article and Supplemental materia

Coherent quantum phase slip

A hundred years after discovery of superconductivity, one fundamental prediction of the theory, the coherent quantum phase slip (CQPS), has not been observed. CQPS is a phenomenon exactly dual to the Josephson effect: whilst the latter is a coherent transfer of charges between superconducting contacts, the former is a coherent transfer of vortices or fluxes across a superconducting wire. In contrast to previously reported observations of incoherent phase slip, the CQPS has been only a subject of theoretical study. Its experimental demonstration is made difficult by quasiparticle dissipation due to gapless excitations in nanowires or in vortex cores. This difficulty might be overcome by using certain strongly disordered superconductors in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT). Here we report the first direct observation of the CQPS in a strongly disordered indium-oxide (InOx) superconducting wire inserted in a loop, which is manifested by the superposition of the quantum states with different number of fluxes. Similarly to the Josephson effect, our observation is expected to lead to novel applications in superconducting electronics and quantum metrology.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure