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On the origin of the controversial electrostatic field effect in superconductors

Ilya Golokolenov, A. Guthrie, S. Kafanov, Yu. A. Pashkin, V. Tsepelin

Published Sep 1, 2020• 52 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract Superconducting quantum devices offer numerous applications, from electrical metrology and magnetic sensing to energy-efficient high-end computing and advanced quantum information processing. The key elements of quantum circuits are (single and double) Josephson junctions controllable either by electric current or magnetic field. The voltage control, commonly used in semiconductor-based devices via the electrostatic field effect, would be far more versatile and practical. Hence, the field effect recently reported in superconducting devices may revolutionise the whole field of superconductor electronics provided it is confirmed. Here we show that the suppression of the critical current attributed to the field effect, can be explained by quasiparticle excitations in the constriction of superconducting devices. Our results demonstrate that a miniscule leakage current between the gate and the constriction of devices perfectly follows the Fowler-Nordheim model of electron field emission from a metal electrode and injects quasiparticles with energies sufficient to weaken or even suppress superconductivity.

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Abstract Superconducting quantum devices offer numerous applications, from electrical metrology and magnetic sensing to energy-efficient high-end computing and advanced quantum information processing. The key elements of quantum circuits are (single and double) Josephson junctions controllable either by electric current or magnetic field. The voltage control, commonly used in semiconductor-based devices via the electrostatic field effect, would be far more versatile and practical. Hence, the field effect recently reported in superconducting devices may revolutionise the whole field of superconductor electronics provided it is confirmed. Here we show that the suppression of the critical current attributed to the field effect, can be explained by quasiparticle excitations in the constriction of superconducting devices. Our results demonstrate that a miniscule leakage current between the gate and the constriction of devices perfectly follows the Fowler-Nordheim model of electron field emission from a metal electrode and injects quasiparticles with energies sufficient to weaken or even suppress superconductivity.
Superconducting quantum devices offer numerous applications, from electrical metrology and magnetic sensing to energy-efficient high-end computing and advanced quantum information processing. The key elements of quantum circuits are (single and double) Josephson junctions controllable either by electric current or magnetic field. The voltage control, commonly used in semiconductor-based devices via the electrostatic field effect, would be far more versatile and practical. Hence, the field effect recently reported in superconducting devices may revolutionise the whole field of superconductor electronics provided it is confirmed. Here we show that the suppression of the critical current attributed to the field effect, can be explained by quasiparticle excitations in the constriction of superconducting devices. Our results demonstrate that a miniscule leakage current between the gate and the constriction of devices perfectly follows the Fowler-Nordheim model of electron field emission from a metal electrode and injects quasiparticles with energies sufficient to weaken or even suppress superconductivity.
Abstract A numerical model based on a lumped circuit element approximation for a bi-superconducting quantum interference device (bi-SQUID) operating in the presence of an external magnetic field is presented in this paper. Included in the model is the novel ability to capture the resultant behaviour of the device when a strong electric field is applied to its Josephson junctions by utilising gate electrodes. The model is used to simulate an all-metallic SNS (Al-Cu-Al) bi-SQUID, where good agreement is observed between the simulated results and the experimental data. The results discussed in this work suggest that the primary consequences of the superconducting field effect induced by the gating of the Josephson junctions are accounted for in our minimal model; namely, the suppression of the junctions super-current. Although based on a simplified semi-empirical model, our results may guide the search for a microscopic origin of this effect by providing a means to model the voltage response of gated SQUIDs. Also, the possible applications of this effect regarding the operation of SQUIDs as ultra-high precision sensors, where the performance of such devices can be improved via careful tuning of the applied gate voltages, are discussed at the end of the paper.
The transport properties of a small superconductor--normal-metal--superconducting tunnel junction can be controlled by a gate electrode coupled capacitively to the central island. We evaluate the critical Josephson current Ic{\mathit{I}}_{\mathit{c}}Ic​ through such a system as a function of the gate voltage Vg{\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{g}}Vg​ taking into account parity effects in the superconductors. The dependence Ic{\mathit{I}}_{\mathit{c}}Ic​(Vg{\mathit{V}}_{\mathit{g}}Vg​) shows resonant singularities and has a qualitatively different character for \ensuremath{\Delta}EC{\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{C}}EC​ and \ensuremath{\Delta}>EC{\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{C}}EC​, \ensuremath{\Delta} being the superconducting gap and EC{\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{C}}EC​=e2{\mathit{e}}^{2}e2/2C being the charging energy. Due to the sweeping of the gate voltage, the system can be driven to states which are metastable with respect to a change of the number of electrons on the central island. Since the lifetime of the metastable states can be macroscopically large, one can observe a remarkable bistability of the Josephson current. A weak magnetic field suppresses the interference of the electrons propagating through the central electrode, and, consequently, the magnitude of the critical current.
Static electric fields have a negligible influence on the electric and transport properties of a metal because of the screening effect. This belief was extended to conventional metallic superconductors. However, recent experiments have shown that the superconductor properties can be controlled and manipulated by the application of strong electrostatic fields. Here, the authors review the experimental results obtained in the realization of field-effect metallic superconducting devices exploiting this phenomenon. The authors start by presenting the pioneering results on superconducting Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer wires and nanoconstriction Josephson junctions (Dayem bridges) made of different materials, such as titanium, aluminum, and vanadium. Then, the authors show the mastering of the Josephson supercurrent in superconductor-normal metal-superconductor proximity transistors, suggesting that the presence of induced superconducting correlations is enough to see this unconventional field-effect. Later, the authors present the control of the interference pattern in a superconducting quantum interference device, indicating the coupling of the electric field with the superconducting phase. The authors conclude this review by discussing some devices that may represent a breakthrough in superconducting quantum and classical computation.
The investigation of the switching-current probability distribution of a Josephson junction is a conventional tool to gain information on the dynamics of the phase slips as a function of the temperature. Here we adopt this well-established technique to probe the impact of an external static electric field on the occurrence of phase slips in gated all-metallic titanium (Ti) Josephson weak links. We show, in a temperature range between 20 and 420 mK, that the evolution of the dynamics of the phase slips as a function of the electrostatic field starkly differs from that observed as a function of the temperature. This fact demonstrates, on the one hand, that the electric field suppression of the critical current is not simply related to a conventional thermal-like quasiparticle overheating in the weak-link region. On the other hand, our results may open the way to operate an electrostatic-driven manipulation of phase slips in metallic Josephson nanojunctions, which can be pivotal for the control of decoherence in superconducting nanostructures.
Phase-tunable hybrid devices, built upon nanostructures combining normal metal and superconductors, have been the subject of intense studies due to their numerous combinations of different charge and heat transport configurations. They exhibit solid applications in quantum metrology and coherent caloritronics. Here we propose and realize a new kind of hybrid device with potential application in single charge manipulation and quantized current generation. We show that by tuning superconductivity on two proximized nanowires, coupled via a Coulombic normal-metal island, we are able to control its charge state configuration. This device supports a one-control-parameter cycle being actuated by the sole magnetic flux. In a voltage biased regime, the phase-tunable superconducting gaps can act as energy barriers for charge quanta leading to an additional degree of freedom in single electronics. The resulting configuration is fully electrostatic and the current across the device is governed by the quasiparticle populations in the source and drain leads. Notably, the proposed device can be realized using standard nanotechniques opening the possibility to a straightforward coupling with the nowadays well developed superconducting electronics.