Magnetic-field-dependent quasiparticle energy relaxation in mesoscopic wires

In order to find out if magnetic impurities can mediate interactions between quasiparticles in metals, we have measured the effect of a magnetic field B on the energy distribution function f(E) of quasiparticles in two silver wires driven out-of-equilibrium by a bias voltage U. In a sample showing sharp distributions at B=0, no magnetic field effect is found, whereas in the other sample, rounded distributions at low magnetic field get sharper as B is increased, with a characteristic field proportional to U. Comparison is made with recent calculations of the effect of magnetic-impurities-mediated interactions taking into account Kondo physics.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Influence of Magnetic Field on Effective Electron-Electron Interactions in a Copper Wire

We have measured in a copper wire the energy exchange rate between quasiparticles as a function of the applied magnetic field. We find that the effective electron-electron interaction is strongly modified by the magnetic field, suggesting that magnetic impurities play a role on the interaction processes.Comment: latex anthore.tex, 8 files, 6 figures, 7 pages in: Proceedings of the XXXVIth Rencontres de Moriond `Electronic Correlations: From Meso- to Nano-physics' Les Arcs, France January 20-27, 2001 [SPEC-S01/027

Phase controlled superconducting proximity effect probed by tunneling spectroscopy

Using a dual-mode STM-AFM microscope operating below 50mK we measured the Local Density of States (LDoS) along small normal wires connected at both ends to superconductors with different phases. We observe that a uniform minigap can develop in the whole normal wire and in the superconductors near the interfaces. The minigap depends periodically on the phase difference. The quasiclassical theory of superconductivity applied to a simplified 1D model geometry accounts well for the data.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Supercurrent Spectroscopy of Andreev States

We measure the excitation spectrum of a superconducting atomic contact. In addition to the usual continuum above the superconducting gap, the single particle excitation spectrum contains discrete, spin-degenerate Andreev levels inside the gap. Quasiparticle excitations are induced by a broadband on-chip microwave source and detected by measuring changes in the supercurrent flowing through the atomic contact. Since microwave photons excite quasiparticles in pairs, two types of transitions are observed: Andreev transitions, which consists of putting two quasiparticles in an Andreev level, and transitions to odd states with a single quasiparticle in an Andreev level and the other one in the continuum. In contrast to absorption spectroscopy, supercurrent spectroscopy allows detection of long-lived odd states.Comment: typos correcte

Exciting Andreev pairs in a superconducting atomic contact

The Josephson effect describes the flow of supercurrent in a weak link, such as a tunnel junction, nanowire, or molecule, between two superconductors. It is the basis for a variety of circuits and devices, with applications ranging from medicine to quantum information. Currently, experiments using Josephson circuits that behave like artificial atoms are revolutionizing the way we probe and exploit the laws of quantum physics. Microscopically, the supercurrent is carried by Andreev pair states, which are localized at the weak link. These states come in doublets and have energies inside the superconducting gap. Existing Josephson circuits are based on properties of just the ground state of each doublet and so far the excited states have not been directly detected. Here we establish their existence through spectroscopic measurements of superconducting atomic contacts. The spectra, which depend on the atomic configuration and on the phase difference between the superconductors, are in complete agreement with theory. Andreev doublets could be exploited to encode information in novel types of superconducting qubits.Comment: Submitted to Natur

Theory of microwave spectroscopy of Andreev bound states with a Josephson junction

We present a microscopic theory for the current through a tunnel Josephson junction coupled to a non-linear environment, which consists of an Andreev two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. It models a recent experiment [Bretheau, Girit, Pothier, Esteve, and Urbina, Nature (London) 499, 312 (2013)] on photon spectroscopy of Andreev bound states in a superconducting atomic-size contact. We find the eigenenergies and eigenstates of the environment and derive the current through the junction due to inelastic Cooper pair tunneling. The current-voltage characteristic reveals the transitions between the Andreev bound states, the excitation of the harmonic mode that hybridizes with the Andreev bound states, as well as multi-photon processes. The calculated spectra are in fair agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Evidence for long-lived quasiparticles trapped in superconducting point contacts

We have observed that the supercurrent across phase-biased, highly transmitting atomic size contacts is strongly reduced within a broad phase interval around {\pi}. We attribute this effect to quasiparticle trapping in one of the discrete sub-gap Andreev bound states formed at the contact. Trapping occurs essentially when the Andreev energy is smaller than half the superconducting gap {\Delta}, a situation in which the lifetime of trapped quasiparticles is found to exceed 100 \mus. The origin of this sharp energy threshold is presently not understood.Comment: Article (5 pages) AND Supplemental material (14 pages). To be published in Physical Review Letter