title: Phase modulated thermal conductance of Josephson weak links.
abstract: We present a theory for quasiparticle heat transport through superconducting weak links. The thermal conductance depends on the phase difference (phi) of the superconducting leads. Branch-conversion processes, low-energy Andreev bound states near the contact, and the suppression of the local density of states near the gap edge are related to phase-sensitive transport processes. Theoretical results for the influence of junction transparency, temperature, and disorder, on the conductance, are reported. For high-transmission weak links, D-->1, the formation of an Andreev bound state leads to suppression of the density of states for the continuum excitations, and thus, to a reduction in the conductance for phi approximately pi. For low-transmission (D<<1) barriers resonant scattering leads to an increase in the thermal conductance as T drops below T(c) (for phase differences near phi=pi).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics & Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Erhai
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Löfwander
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sauls