title: Origin of hysteresis in a proximity josephson junction.
abstract: We investigate hysteresis in the transport properties of superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor (S-N-S) junctions at low temperatures by measuring directly the electron temperature in the normal metal. Our results demonstrate unambiguously that the hysteresis results from an increase of the normal-metal electron temperature once the junction switches to the resistive state. In our geometry, the electron temperature increase is governed by the thermal resistance of the superconducting electrodes of the junction.
authors.affiliation: Low Temperature Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 3500, 02015 TKK, Finland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Courtois
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meschke
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pekola