Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userPhase controlled superconducting proximity effect probed by tunneling spectroscopy
106
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
H. Le Sueur
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
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.
rate research
Read More
We studied the proximity effect between a superconductor (Nb) and a diluted ferromagnetic alloy (CuNi) in a bilayer geometry. We measured the local density of states on top of the ferromagnetic layer, which thickness varies on each sample, with a very low temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The measured spectra display a very high homogeneity. The analysis of the experimental data shows the need to take into account an additional scattering mechanism. By including in the Usadel equations the effect of the spin relaxation in the ferromagnetic alloy, we obtain a good description of the experimental data.
Using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we have studied the proximity effect at the interfaces between superconducting Pb island structures and metallic Pb-induced striped-incommensurate phase formed on a Si(111) substrate. Our real-space observation revealed that the step structures on the two-dimensional metallic layer exhibit significant roles on the propagation of the superconducting pair correlation; the proximity effect is terminated by the steps, and in the confined area by the interface and the steps the effect is enhanced. The observed results are explained quantitatively with an elastic reflection of electrons at the step edges based on calculations with the quasi-classical Greens function formulation using Usadel equation.
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the proximity effect in an atomic-scale controlled junction between two different superconductors. Elaborated on a Si(111) surface, the junction comprises a Pb nanocrystal with an energy gap of 1.2 meV, connected to a crystalline atomic monolayer of lead with a gap of 0.23 meV. Using in situ scanning tunneling spectroscopy we probe the local density of states of this hybrid system both in space and in energy, at temperatures below and above the critical temperature of the superconducting monolayer. Direct and inverse proximity effects are revealed with high resolution. Our observations are precisely explained with the help of a self-consistent solution of the Usadel equations. In particular, our results demonstrate that in the vicinity of the Pb islands, the Pb monolayer locally develops a finite proximity-induced superconducting order parameter, well above its own bulk critical temperature. This leads to a giant proximity effect where the superconducting correlations penetrate inside the monolayer a distance much larger than in a non-superconducting metal.
The superconducting proximity effect has been the focus of significant research efforts over many years and has recently attracted renewed interest as the basis of topologically non-trivial states in materials with a large spin orbit interaction, with protected boundary states useful for quantum information technologies. However, spectroscopy of these states is challenging because of the limited spatial and energetic control of conventional tunnel barriers. Here, we report electronic spectroscopy measurements of the proximity gap in a semiconducting indium arsenide (InAs) nanowire (NW) segment coupled to a superconductor (SC), using a spatially separated quantum dot (QD) formed deterministically during the crystal growth. We extract the characteristic parameters describing the proximity gap which is suppressed for lower electron densities and fully developed for larger ones. This gate-tunable transition of the proximity effect can be understood as a transition from the long to the short junction regime of subgap bound states in the NW segment. Our device architecture opens up the way to systematic, unambiguous spectroscopy studies of subgap bound states, such as Majorana bound states.
The proximity effect (PE) between superconductor and confined electrons can induce the effective pairing phenomena of electrons in nanowire or quantum dot (QD). Through interpreting the PE as an exchange of virtually quasi-excitation in a largely gapped superconductor, we found that there exists another induced dynamic process. Unlike the effective pairing that mixes the QD electron states coherently, this extra process leads to dephasing of the QD. In a case study, the dephasing time is inversely proportional to the Coulomb interaction strength between two electrons in the QD. Further theoretical investigations imply that this dephasing effect can decrease the quality of the zero temperature mesoscopic electron transportation measurements by lowering and broadening the corresponding differential conductance peaks.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
