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Superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor

Nature Physics volume 6, pages 254–259 (2010)Cite this article

An Addendum to this article was published on 01 July 2010

This article has been updated

Abstract

When a superconductor is placed close to a non-superconducting metal, it can induce superconducting correlations in the metal 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, known as the ‘proximity effect’11. Such behaviour modifies the density of states (DOS) in the normal metal12,13,14,15 and opens a minigap12,13,16 with an amplitude that can be controlled by changing the phase of the superconducting order parameter12,15. Here, we exploit such behaviour to realize a new type of interferometer, the superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (SQUIPT), for which the operation relies on the modulation with the magnetic field of the DOS of a proximized metal embedded in a superconducting loop. Even without optimizing its design, this device shows extremely low flux noise, down to ∼10−5 Φ0Hz−1/2 (Φ0≃2×10−15 Wb is the flux quantum) and dissipation several orders of magnitude smaller than in conventional superconducting interferometers17,18,19. With optimization, the SQUIPT could significantly increase the sensitivity with which small magnetic moments are detected.

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Figure 1: The SQUIPT.
Figure 2: SQUIPT configuration and its predicted behaviour.
Figure 3: Magnetic-field dependence of the current–voltage characteristic.
Figure 4: Magnetic-field dependence of the voltage modulation and flux-to-voltage transfer function.
Figure 5: Temperature dependence of the voltage modulation and flux-to-voltage transfer function.

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Change history

  • 10 June 2010

    In the original version of this Letter published online, we had inadvertently neglected to cite some prior works that described a related device known as an Andreev interferometer. We apologize for this oversight.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge O. Astafiev, L. Faoro, R. Fazio, M. E. Gershenson, T. T. Heikkilä, L. B. Ioffe, V. Piazza, P. Pingue, F. Portier, H. Pothier, H. Rabani, F. Taddei and A. S. Vasenko for fruitful discussions. The work was partially supported by the INFM-CNR Seed project ‘Quantum-Dot Refrigeration: Accessing the μK Regime in Solid-State Nanosystems’, and by the NanoSciERA project ‘NanoFridge’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NEST Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza S. Silvestro 12, I-56127 Pisa, Italy

    Francesco Giazotto

  2. Low Temperature Laboratory, Aalto University School of Science and Technology, FI-00076 Aalto, PO Box 13500, Finland

    Joonas T. Peltonen, Matthias Meschke & Jukka P. Pekola

Authors
  1. Francesco Giazotto
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  2. Joonas T. Peltonen
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  3. Matthias Meschke
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  4. Jukka P. Pekola
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Contributions

F.G. conceived and carried out the experiment, analysed the data, carried out the calculations and wrote the manuscript. M.M. took part in the early stage of measurements, contributed to the cryogenic set-up and to writing the manuscript. J.T.P. designed and fabricated the samples, and contributed to writing the manuscript. J.P.P. took part in the early stage of measurements, contributed to the cryogenic set-up, took part in the interpretation of the data and contributed to writing the manuscript. F.G. and J.P.P. discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages equally.

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Correspondence to Francesco Giazotto.

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Giazotto, F., Peltonen, J., Meschke, M. et al. Superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor. Nature Phys 6, 254–259 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1537

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