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arXiv:1807.01733 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Detecting parity effect in a superconducting device in the presence of parity switches

E. T. Mannila, V. F. Maisi, Hung Q. Nguyen, Charles M. Marcus, Jukka P Pekola

Published Jul 8, 2019• 15 citations
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Abstract

We present a superconducting device showing a clear parity effect in the number of electrons, even when there is, on average, a single nonequilibrium quasiparticle present and the parity of the island switches due to quasiparticles tunneling in and out of the device at rates on the order of 100 Hz. We detect the switching by monitoring in real time the charge state of a superconducting island connected to normal leads by tunnel junctions. The quasiparticles are created by Cooper pairs breaking on the island at a rate of a few kilohertz. We demonstrate that the pair breaking is caused by the backaction of the single-electron transistor used as a charge detector. With sufficiently low probing currents, our superconducting island is free of quasiparticles 97% of the time.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.100.020502

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We present a superconducting device showing a clear parity effect in the number of electrons, even when there is, on average, a single nonequilibrium quasiparticle present and the parity of the island switches due to quasiparticles tunneling in and out of the device at rates on the order of 100 Hz. We detect the switching by monitoring in real time the charge state of a superconducting island connected to normal leads by tunnel junctions. The quasiparticles are created by Cooper pairs breaking on the island at a rate of a few kilohertz. We demonstrate that the pair breaking is caused by the backaction of the single-electron transistor used as a charge detector. With sufficiently low probing currents, our superconducting island is free of quasiparticles 97% of the time.
Detecting quasiparticle tunneling events in superconducting circuits provides information about the population and dynamics of non-equilibrium quasiparticles. Such events can be detected by monitoring changes in the frequency of an offset-charge-sensitive superconducting qubit. This monitoring has so far been performed by Ramsey interferometry assisted by a readout resonator. Here, we demonstrate a quasiparticle detector based on a superconducting qubit directly coupled to a waveguide. We directly measure quasiparticle number parity on the qubit island by probing the coherent scattering of a microwave tone, offering simplicity of operation, fast detection speed, and a large signal-to-noise ratio. We observe tunneling rates between 0.8 and 7 s−17~\rm{s}^{-1}7 s−1, depending on the average occupation of the detector qubit, and achieve a temporal resolution below 10 μs10~μ\rm{s}10 μs without a quantum-limited amplifier. Our simple and efficient detector lowers the barrier to perform studies of quasiparticle population and dynamics, facilitating progress in fundamental science, quantum information processing, and sensing.
In a system where two small-area (100 nm x 100 nm) superconducting tunnel junctions are connected in series, the Josephson effect which tends to impose the phase competes with the charging effects in the central electrode (the of the device) which tend to set the charge of the island. By applying a voltage on an electrode capacitively coupled to the island (the electrode) one can arbitrate this competition in favour of either effect. This is can be seen in particular on the supercurrent which can flow through the junctions : it is modulated periodically by the gate voltage (hence the name of given to the system). This modulation shows sharp peaks when two charge states of the island are degenerate with respect to the electrostatic energy. The system is then in a state which has no classical description : it is in a coherent superposition of states. In this thesis we demonstrate experimentally the behaviour of this transistor and we analyse the theoretical and practical problems which can prevent the observation of the coherent superposition of states through the modulation of the supercurrent. In particular we show that the parity of the electron number in the island must be rigorously controlled and that the impedance connected to the circuit plays a crucial role in setting the magnitude of the measured supercurrent.
We investigate quasiparticle tunneling in a Cooper-pair box which is embedded in a superconducting ring to allow control of the total phase difference across the island. The phase affects the transition rate between different electron number parity states of the island, which can be observed in experiment by established means. The phase dependence also leads to what is known as the $\mathrm{cos}\ensuremath{\phi}$ term in the tunneling characteristics of classical Josephson junctions. This effect has remained controversial for decades; the proposed scheme opens an independent way to probe it.
We have measured the supercurrent branch of a superconducting single electron transistor as a function of gate charge, temperature, and magnetic field. At low temperature and magnetic field, the switching current goes from a minimum to a maximum when the gate charge is varied from 0 to e, as expected for an island in the ground state with an even electron number. When the odd electron number ground state becomes populated by an increase of temperature or field, the Josephson tunneling is strongly suppressed, in agreement with theoretical predictions.