Superconducting atomic contacts under microwave irradiation

Physical Review Letters 97 (2006) 067006 We have measured the effect of microwave irradiation on the dc current-voltage characteristics of superconducting atomic contacts. The interaction of the external field with the ac supercurrents leads to replicas of the supercurrent peak, the well known Shapi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Chauvin, M, Stein, P. Vom, Pothier, H, Joyez, P, Huber, M. E, Esteve, D, Urbina, C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 29.08.2006
Subjects
Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Physics - Superconductivity
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Summary:Physical Review Letters 97 (2006) 067006 We have measured the effect of microwave irradiation on the dc current-voltage characteristics of superconducting atomic contacts. The interaction of the external field with the ac supercurrents leads to replicas of the supercurrent peak, the well known Shapiro resonances. The observation of supplementary fractional resonances for contacts containing highly transmitting conduction channels reveals their non-sinusoidal current-phase relation. The resonances sit on a background current which is itself deeply modified, as a result of photon assisted multiple Andreev reflections. The results provide firm support for the full quantum theory of transport between two superconductors based on the concept of Andreev bound states.
Bibliography:s06/038
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0608648