title: Critical voltage of a mesoscopic superconductor.
abstract: We study the influence of a voltage-driven nonequilibrium of quasiparticles on the properties of short mesoscopic superconducting wires. We employ a numerical calculation based upon the Usadel equation. Going beyond linear response, we find a nonthermal energy distribution of the quasiparticles caused by the applied bias voltage. It is demonstrated that this nonequilibrium drives the system from the superconducting state to the normal state, at a current density far below the critical depairing current density.
authors.affiliation: Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Keizer
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Flokstra
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aarts
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Klapwijk