No Arabic abstract
In this work we study by numerical methods the phase dynamics in ballistic graphene-based short Josephson junctions. The supercurrent through a graphene junction shows a non-sinusoidal phase-dependence, unlike a conventional junction ruled by the well-known d.c. Josephson relation. A superconductor-graphene-superconductor system exhibits superconductive quantum metastable states similar to those present in normal current-biased JJs. We explore the effects of thermal and correlated fluctuations on the escape time from these metastable states, when the system is stimulated by an oscillating bias current. As a first step, the analysis is carried out in the presence of an external Gaussian white noise source, which mimics the random fluctuations of the bias current. Varying the noise intensity, it is possible to analyze the behavior of the escape time from a superconductive metastable state in different temperature regimes. Noise induced phenomena, such as resonant activation and noise induced stability, are observed. The study is extended to the case of a coloured Gaussian noise source, analyzing how the escape time from the metastable state is affected by correlated random fluctuations for different values of the noise correlation time.
The effect of thermal fluctuations in Josephson junctions is usually analysed using the Ambegaokar-Halperin (AH) theory in the context of thermal activation. Enhanced fluctuations, demonstrated by broadening of current-voltage characteristics, have previously been found for proximity Josephson junctions. Here we report measurements of micron-scale normal metal loops contacted with thin superconducting electrodes, where the unconventional loop geometry enables tuning of the junction barrier with applied flux; for some geometries, the barrier can be effectively eliminated. Stronger fluctuations are observed when the flux threading the normal metal loop is near an odd half-integer flux quantum, and for devices with thinner superconducting electrodes. These findings suggest that the activation barrier, which is the Josephson coupling energy of the proximity junction, is different from that of conventional Josephson junctions. Simple one dimensional quasiclassical theory can predict the interference effect due to the loop structure, but the exact magnitude of the coupling energy cannot be computed without taking into account the details of the sample dimensions. In this way, the physics of this system is similar to the phase slipping process in thin superconducting wires. Besides shedding light on thermal fluctuations in proximity junctions, the findings here also demonstrate a new type of superconducting interference device with two normal branches sharing the same SN interface on both sides of the device, which has technical advantages for making symmetrical interference devices.
The discovery that a gate electrode suppresses the supercurrent in purely metallic systems is missing a complete physical understanding of the mechanisms at play. We here study the origin of this reduction in a Superconductor-Normal metal-Superconductor Josephson junction by performing, on the same device, a detailed investigation of the gate-dependent switching probability together with the local tunnelling spectroscopy of the normal metal. We demonstrate that high energy electrons leaking from the gate trigger the reduction of the critical current which is accompanied by an important broadening of the switching histograms. The switching rates are well described by an activation formula including an additional term accounting for the injection of rare high energy electrons from the gate. The rate of electrons obtained from the fit remarkably coincides with the independently measured leakage current. Concomitantly, a negligible elevation of the local temperature is found by tunnelling spectroscopy which excludes overheating scenarios.
We present low-temperature measurements of the low-frequency $1/f$ noise arising from an ensemble of two-level fluctuators in the oxide barrier of Al/AlO$_{x}$/Al Josephson junctions. The fractional noise power spectrum of the critical-current and normal-state resistance have similar magnitudes and scale linearly with temperature, implying an equivalence between the two. Compiling our results and published data, we deduce the area and temperature scaling of the noise for AlO$_{x}$ barrier junctions. We find that the density of two-level fluctuators in the junction barrier is similar to the typical value in glassy systems. We discuss the implications and consistency with recent qubit experiments.
Magneto-fluctuations of the normal resistance R_N have been reproducibly observed in high critical temp erature superconductor (HTS) grain boundary junctions, at low temperatures. We attribute them to mesoscopic transport in narrow channels across the grain boundary line. The Thouless energy appears to be the relevant energy scale. Our findings have significant implications on quasiparticle relaxation and coherent transport in HTS grain boundaries.
Graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) has proved to be highly successful in Hall conductance quantization for its homogeneity at the centimetre scale. Robust Josephson coupling has been measured in co-planar diffusive Al/monololayer graphene/Al junctions. Graphene on SiC substrates is a concrete candidate to provide scalability of hybrid Josephson graphene/superconductor devices, giving also promise of ballistic propagation.