Method for finding the critical temperature of the island in a SET structure

We present a method to measure the critical temperature of the island of a superconducting single electron transistor. The method is based on a sharp change in the slope of the zero-bias conductance as a function of temperature. We have used this method to determine the superconducting phase transit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of physics. Conference series Vol. 150; no. 2; p. 022088
Main Authors Toppari, J J, Kühn, T, Halvari, A P, Paraoanu, G S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 01.02.2009
Subjects
Aluminum
Bias
Charge simulation
Charge transport
Critical field (superconductivity)
Critical temperature
Electrons
Niobium
Phase transitions
Physics
Semiconductor devices
Single-electron transistors
Superconductivity
Transistors
Transition temperature
Transport properties
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Summary:We present a method to measure the critical temperature of the island of a superconducting single electron transistor. The method is based on a sharp change in the slope of the zero-bias conductance as a function of temperature. We have used this method to determine the superconducting phase transition temperature of the Nb island of an superconducting single electron transistor with Al leads. We obtain TcNb as high as 8.5 K and gap energies up to ΔNb ≊ 1.45 meV. By looking at the zero bias conductance as a function of magnetic field instead of temperature, also the critical field of the island can be determined. Using the orthodox theory, we have performed extensive numerical simulations of charge transport properties in the SET at temperatures comparable to the gap, which match very well the data, therefore providing a solid theoretical basis for our method. PACS: 73.23.Hk,73.40.Gk,74.50.+r
ISSN:1742-6596
1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/150/2/022088