Tunable supercurrent through semiconductor nanowires.
Nanoscale superconductor/semiconductor hybrid devices are assembled from indium arsenide semiconductor nanowires individually contacted by aluminum-based superconductor electrodes. Below 1 kelvin, the high transparency of the contacts gives rise to proximity-induced superconductivity. The nanowires form superconducting weak links operating as mesoscopic Josephson junctions with electrically tunable coupling. The supercurrent can be switched on/off by a gate voltage acting on the electron density in the nanowire. A variation in gate voltage induces universal fluctuations in the normal-state conductance, which are clearly correlated to critical current fluctuations. The alternating-current Josephson effect gives rise to Shapiro steps in the voltage-current characteristic under microwave irradiation.
Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Post Office Box 5046, 2600 GA Delft, Netherlands.
Yong-Joo
YJ
Doh
Jorden A
JA
van Dam
Aarnoud L
AL
Roest
Erik P A M
EP
Bakkers
Leo P
LP
Kouwenhoven
Silvano
S
De Franceschi