Enrico Emanuele, Strambini Elia, Giazotto Francesco
INRIM, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Strada delle Cacce 91, Torino, I-10135, Italy.
NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza S. Silvestro 12, Pisa, I-56127, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 18;7(1):13492. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13894-z.
Phase-tunable hybrid devices, built upon nanostructures combining normal metal and superconductors, have been the subject of intense studies due to their numerous combinations of different charge and heat transport configurations. They exhibit solid applications in quantum metrology and coherent caloritronics. Here we propose and realize a new kind of hybrid device with potential application in single charge manipulation and quantized current generation. We show that by tuning superconductivity on two proximized nanowires, coupled via a Coulombic normal-metal island, we are able to control its charge state configuration. This device supports a one-control-parameter cycle being actuated by the sole magnetic flux. In a voltage biased regime, the phase-tunable superconducting gaps can act as energy barriers for charge quanta leading to an additional degree of freedom in single electronics. The resulting configuration is fully electrostatic and the current across the device is governed by the quasiparticle populations in the source and drain leads. Notably, the proposed device can be realized using standard nanotechniques opening the possibility to a straightforward coupling with the nowadays well developed superconducting electronics.
基于结合了普通金属和超导体的纳米结构构建的相位可调混合器件，由于其不同电荷和热传输配置的众多组合，一直是深入研究的对象。它们在量子计量学和相干热电子学中展现出实际应用。在此，我们提出并实现了一种新型混合器件，其在单电荷操纵和量化电流产生方面具有潜在应用。我们表明，通过调节经由库仑普通金属岛耦合的两条近邻纳米线上的超导性，我们能够控制其电荷态配置。该器件支持由唯一的磁通量驱动的单控制参数循环。在电压偏置状态下，相位可调超导能隙可充当电荷量子的能垒，从而在单电子学中导致额外的自由度。所得配置完全是静电的，并且跨器件的电流由源极和漏极引线中的准粒子数量决定。值得注意的是，所提出的器件可以使用标准纳米技术实现，这为与当今发展成熟的超导电子学直接耦合开辟了可能性。
