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Quantum oscillations of the critical current and high-field superconducting proximity in ballistic graphene

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 318–322 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Graphene-based Josephson junctions provide a novel platform for studying the proximity effect1,2,3 due to graphene’s unique electronic spectrum and the possibility to tune junction properties by gate voltage4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16. Here we describe graphene junctions with a mean free path of several micrometres, low contact resistance and large supercurrents. Such devices exhibit pronounced Fabry–Pérot oscillations not only in the normal-state resistance but also in the critical current. The proximity effect is mostly suppressed in magnetic fields below 10 mT, showing the conventional Fraunhofer pattern. Unexpectedly, some proximity survives even in fields higher than 1 T. Superconducting states randomly appear and disappear as a function of field and carrier concentration, and each of them exhibits a supercurrent carrying capacity close to the universal quantum limit17,18. We attribute the high-field Josephson effect to mesoscopic Andreev states that persist near graphene edges. Our work reveals new proximity regimes that can be controlled by quantum confinement and cyclotron motion.

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Figure 1: Ballistic SGS junctions.
Figure 2: Quantum oscillations in the supercurrent.
Figure 3: Fluctuating proximity superconductivity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the European Research Council, the EU Graphene Flagship Program, the Royal Society, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research and ERC Synergy Grant Hetero2D. We thank C. Barton, G. H. Auton, R. V. Gorbachev and F. Guinea for helpful discussions. M.J.Z. acknowledges the National University of Defense Technology (China) overseas PhD scholarship. J.R.P. acknowledges support of the Marie Curie People Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Booth St. E, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

    M. Ben Shalom, M. J. Zhu, V. I. Fal’ko, A. Mishchenko, A. V. Kretinin, K. S. Novoselov & A. K. Geim

  2. School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

    M. Ben Shalom, M. J. Zhu, V. I. Fal’ko, A. Mishchenko, C. R. Woods & A. K. Geim

  3. National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan

    K. Watanabe & T. Taniguchi

  4. Department of Physics, University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK

    J. R. Prance

Authors
  1. M. Ben Shalom
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Contributions

A.K.G., A.V.K. and M.B.S. designed the experiment. M.B.S. and A.V.K. fabricated the devices. M.J.Z. and J.R.P. carried out the measurements. M.B.S., M.J.Z., V.I.F., A.K.G. and J.R.P. analysed and interpreted the data. V.I.F. provided theory support. K.W. and T.T. supplied hBN crystals A.M. and C.R.W. helped with experiments. M.B.S., J.R.P., V.I.F. and A.K.G. wrote the manuscript with input from all the authors.

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Correspondence to V. I. Fal’ko or A. K. Geim.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ben Shalom, M., Zhu, M., Fal’ko, V. et al. Quantum oscillations of the critical current and high-field superconducting proximity in ballistic graphene. Nature Phys 12, 318–322 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3592

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