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Pekker D, Shah N, Sahu M, Bezryadin A, Goldbart PM. Stochastic dynamics of phase-slip trains and superconductive-resistive switching in current-biased nanowires. Phys. Rev. B. 2009;80:214525 (1 to 17).
Abstract: Superconducting nanowires fabricated via carbon-nanotube templating can be used to realize and study quasi-one-dimensional superconductors. However, measurement of the linear resistance of these nanowires have been inconclusive in determining the low-temperature behavior of phase-slip fluctuations, both quantal and thermal. Thus, we are motivated to study the nonlinear current-voltage characteristics in current-biased nanowires and the stochastic dynamics of superconductive-resistive switching, as a way of probing phase-slip events. In particular, we address the question: can a single phase-slip event occurring somewhere along the wire—during which the order-parameter fluctuates to zero—induce switching, via the local heating it causes? We explore this and related issues by constructing a stochastic model for the time evolution of the temperature in a nanowire whose ends are maintained at a fixed temperature. We derive the corresponding master equation as a tool for evaluating and analyzing the mean switching time at a given value of current (smaller than the depairing critical current). The model indicates that although, in general, several phase-slip events are necessary to induce switching via a thermal runaway, there is indeed a regime of temperatures and currents in which a single event is sufficient. We carry out a detailed comparison of the results of the model with experimental measurements of the distribution of switching currents, and provide an explanation for the rather counterintuitive broadening of the distribution width that is observed upon lowering the temperature. Moreover, we identify a regime in which the experiments are probing individual phase-slip events, and thus offer a way of unearthing and exploring the physics of nanoscale quantum tunneling of the one-dimensional collective quantum field associated with the superconducting order parameter.
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Perrin N, Vanneste C. Response of superconducting films to a periodic optical irradiation. Phys. Rev. B. 1983;28(9):5150–9.
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Boogaard GR, Verbruggen AH, Belzig W, Klapwijk T.M. Resistance of superconducting nanowires connected to normal-metal leads. Phys Rev B. 2004;69:220503(R)(1–4).
Abstract: We study experimentally the low temperature resistance of superconducting nanowires connected to normal metal reservoirs. Wefind that a substantial fraction of the nanowires is resistive, down to the lowest tempera-ture measured, indicative of an intrinsic boundary resistance due to the Andreev-conversion of normal current to supercurrent. The results are successfully analyzed in terms of the kinetic equations for diffusive superconductors.
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Kardakova A, Shishkin A, Semenov A, Goltsman GN, Ryabchun S, Klapwijk TM, et al. Relaxation of the resistive superconducting state in boron-doped diamond films. Phys Rev B. 2016;93(6):064506.
Abstract: We report a study of the relaxation time of the restoration of the resistive superconducting state in single crystalline boron-doped diamond using amplitude-modulated absorption of (sub-)THz radiation (AMAR). The films grown on an insulating diamond substrate have a low carrier density of about 2.5×1021cm−3 and a critical temperature of about 2K. By changing the modulation frequency we find a high-frequency rolloff which we associate with the characteristic time of energy relaxation between the electron and the phonon systems or the relaxation time for nonequilibrium superconductivity. Our main result is that the electron-phonon scattering time varies clearly as T−2, over the accessible temperature range of 1.7 to 2.2 K. In addition, we find, upon approaching the critical temperature Tc, evidence for an increasing relaxation time on both sides of Tc.
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Smolyaninov II, Zayats AV, Stanishevsky A, Davis CC. Optical control of photon tunneling through an array of nanometer-scale cylindrical channels. Phys Rev B. 2002;66(20):205414_1–5.
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Bell M, Sergeev A, Mitin V, Bird J, Verevkin A, Gol’tsman G. One-dimensional resistive states in quasi-two-dimensional superconductors: Experiment and theory. Phys Rev B. 2007;76(9):094521 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We investigate competition between one- and two-dimensional topological excitations—phase slips and vortices—in the formation of resistive states in quasi-two-dimensional superconductors in a wide temperature range below the mean-field transition temperature TC0. The widths w=100nm of our ultrathin NbN samples are substantially larger than the Ginzburg-Landau coherence length ξ=4nm, and the fluctuation resistivity above TC0 has a two-dimensional character. However, our data show that the resistivity below TC0 is produced by one-dimensional excitations—thermally activated phase slip strips (PSSs) overlapping the sample cross section. We also determine the scaling phase diagram, which shows that even in wider samples the PSS contribution dominates over vortices in a substantial region of current and/or temperature variations. Measuring the resistivity within 7 orders of magnitude, we find that the quantum phase slips can only be essential below this level.
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Heslinga DR, Shafranjuk SE, van Kempen H, Klapwijk TM. Observation of double-gap-edge Andreev reflection at Si/Nb interfaces by point-contact spectroscopy. Phys Rev B. 1994;49(15):10484–94.
Abstract: Andreev reflection point-contact spectroscopy is performed on a bilayer consisting of 50-nm degenerately doped Si backed with Nb. Due to the short mean free path both injection into and transport across the Si layer are diffusive, in contrast to the ballistic conditions prevailing in clean metal layers. Nevertheless a large Andreev signal is observed in the point-contact characteristics, not reduced by elastic scattering in the Si layer or by interface scattering, but only limited by the transmission coefficient of the metal-semiconductor point contact. Two peaks in the Andreev reflection probability are visible, marking the values of the superconducting energy gap at the interface on the Nb and Si sides. This interpretation is supported by a method of solving the Bogolubov equations analytically using a simplified expression for the variation of the order parameter close to the interface. This observation enables a comparison with theoretical predictions of the gap discontinuity in the proximity effect. It is found that the widely used de Gennes model does not agree with the experimental data.
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Sidorova MV, Kozorezov AG, Semenov AV, Korneeva YP, Mikhailov MY, Devizenko AY, et al. Nonbolometric bottleneck in electron-phonon relaxation in ultrathin WSi films. Phys Rev B. 2018;97(18):184512 (1 to 13).
Abstract: We developed the model of the internal phonon bottleneck to describe the energy exchange between the acoustically soft ultrathin metal film and acoustically rigid substrate. Discriminating phonons in the film into two groups, escaping and nonescaping, we show that electrons and nonescaping phonons may form a unified subsystem, which is cooled down only due to interactions with escaping phonons, either due to direct phonon conversion or indirect sequential interaction with an electronic system. Using an amplitude-modulated absorption of the sub-THz radiation technique, we studied electron-phonon relaxation in ultrathin disordered films of tungsten silicide. We found an experimental proof of the internal phonon bottleneck. The experiment and simulation based on the proposed model agree well, resulting in τe−ph∼140–190 ps at TC=3.4K, supporting the results of earlier measurements by independent techniques.
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Parker WH. Modified heating theory of nonequilibrium superconductors. Phys. Rev. B. 1975;12(9):3667–72.
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Santhanam P, Wind S, Prober DE. Localization, superconducting fluctuations, and superconductivity in thin films and narrow wires of aluminum. Phys Rev B. 1987;35(7):3188–206.
Abstract: We report a comprehensive set of experiments on wide and narrow thin-film strips of aluminum which test the predictions of recent localization theory. The experiments on wide films in the two-dimensional regime confirm the theoretical predictions and also yield insight into inelastic mechanisms and spin-orbit scattering rates. Our extension of the existing theory for one-dimensional systems to include spin-orbit scattering and Maki-Thompson superconducting fluctuations is verified by the experiments. We find clear evidence for one-dimensional localization, with inferred inelastic rates identical to those in two-dimensional films. The prediction of the localization theory for a dimensional crossover from two-dimensional to one-dimensional behavior is also confirmed. We have reanalyzed the results of some previous experiments on thin films and narrow wires in light of these results.
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