Divergence at low bias and down-mixing of the current noise in a diffusive superconductor-normal metal-superconductor junction

Elsa Lhotel (1, 2) , Olivier Coupiac (2) , François Lefloch (2) , Hervé Courtois (3) , M. Sanquer (2)

1 NEEL - MagSup - Magnétisme et Supraconductivité
2 LaTEQS - Laboratoire de Transport Electronique Quantique et Supraconductivité
3 NEEL - QuNES - Nano-Electronique Quantique et Spectroscopie

We present current noise measurements in a long diffusive superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor junction in the low voltage regime, in which transport can be partially described in terms of coherent multiple Andreev reflections. We show that, when decreasing voltage, the current noise exhibits a strong divergence together with a broad peak. We ascribe this peak to the mixing between the ac- Josephson current and the noise of the junction itself. We show that the junction noise corresponds to the thermal noise of a nonlinear resistor 4kBT=R with R V = I V and no adjustable parameters.

Mots clés: shot noise; S/N/S junction; Andreev reflection; fluctuations-dissipation theorem

Domaines: Systèmes mésoscopiques et effet Hall quantique [cond-mat.mes-hall]

Elsa Lhotel, Olivier Coupiac, François Lefloch, Hervé Courtois, M. Sanquer. Divergence at low bias and down-mixing of the current noise in a diffusive superconductor-normal metal-superconductor junction. Physical Review Letters, 2007, 99 (11), pp.117002. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.117002⟩. ⟨hal-00143895v2⟩