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New Functionalities for energy-efficient superconducting electronic devices

Anna Palau, Alejandro Fernández Rodríguez, Jordi Alcalà, Xavier Granados, X. Obradors, Teresa Puig, Jordi Suñé, N. Mestres

Published May 23, 2019• 0 citations
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arXiv:2207.06480•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 15, 2022•30 citations
We report the detection of single electrons using a Nb0.7Ti0.3N superconducting wire deposited on an oxidized silicon substrate. While it is known that this device is sensitive to single photons, we show that it also detects single electrons with kilo-electron-volt energy emitted from the cathode of a scanning electron microscope with an efficiency approaching unity. The electron and photon detection efficiency map of the same device are in good agreement. We also observe detection events outside the active area of the device, which we attribute to sensitivity to backscattered electrons.
Thin superconducting wires can be engineered as efficient end fast detectors for single photons. They are therefore promising tools for telecommunications or quantum information processing. We wants to extend the ideas on single photon superconducting detectors to the case of single electrons. Our goal is to integrate these devices on atom-chips in order to detect trapped Rydberg atoms that can be easily ionized. We have designed simple NbN wire detectors and developped a complete setup for caracterizing our samples under a cryogenic scanning electron microscop. The detectors are fabricated by e-beam lithography on a NbN layer sputtered on a MgO wafer. Our test samples are cooled down to 8 K under the column of a conventionnal SEM whose electronic beam current and energy are precisely controlled. The use of a focused electron beam, smaller than the wire dimensions, gives access to local properties of the detector. We are able to make a complete map of the detection efficiency over the whole wire. We observe local inhomogeneities like white (high efficiency) or dark (no detection at all) areas. Systematic studies of the efficiency as a function of the bias current in the wire or the electron beam energy were carried out.
We discuss a quantum thermal machine that generates power from a thermally driven double quantum dot coupled to normal and superconducting reservoirs. Energy exchange between the dots is mediated by electron-electron interactions. We can distinguish three main mechanisms within the device operation modes. In the Andreev tunneling regime, energy flows in the presence of coherent superposition of zero- and two-particle states. Despite the intrinsic electron-hole symmetry of Andreev processes, we find that the heat engine efficiency increases with increasing coupling to the superconducting reservoir. The second mechanism occurs in the regime of quasiparticle transport. Here we obtain large efficiencies due to the presence of the superconducting gap and the strong energy dependence of the electronic density of states around the gap edges. Finally, in the third regime there exists a competition between Andreev processes and quasiparticle tunneling. Altogether, our results emphasize the importance of both pair tunneling and structured band spectrum for an accurate characterization of the heat engine properties in normal-superconducting coupled dot systems.