Andreev Current-Induced Dissipation in a Hybrid Superconducting Tunnel Junction

Sukumar Rajauria (1) , Philippe Gandit (2) , Thierry Fournier (3) , Frank. W. J. Hekking (4) , Bernard Pannetier (1) , Hervé Courtois (5)

1 NEEL - QuantECA - Circuits électroniques quantiques Alpes
2 NEEL - HELFA - Hélium : du fondamental aux applications
3 NEEL - Nanofab - Nanofabrication
4 LPM2C - Laboratoire de physique et modélisation des milieux condensés
5 NEEL - QuNES - Nano-Electronique Quantique et Spectroscopie

We have studied hybrid superconducting micro-coolers made of a double Superconductor-Insulator-Normal metal tunnel junction. Under subgap conditions, the Andreev current is found to dominate the single-particle tunnel current. We show that the Andreev current introduces additional dissipation in the normal metal equivalent to Joule heating. By analyzing quantitatively the heat balance in the system, we provide a full description of the evolution of the electronic temperature with the voltage. The dissipation induced by the Andreev current is found to dominate the quasiparticle tunneling-based cooling over a large bias range.

Domaines: Supraconductivité [cond-mat.supr-con]

Sukumar Rajauria, Philippe Gandit, Thierry Fournier, Frank. W. J. Hekking, Bernard Pannetier, et al.. Andreev Current-Induced Dissipation in a Hybrid Superconducting Tunnel Junction. Physical Review Letters, 2008, 100 (20), pp.207002. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.207002⟩. ⟨hal-00256658v2⟩