Controlling hysteresis in superconducting constrictions with a resistive shunt

Nikhil Kumar (1) , Clemens Winkelmann (2) , Sourav Biswas (1) , Hervé Courtois (2) , Anjan K. Gupta (1)

1 Department of Physics [Kanpur]
2 NEEL - QuNES - Nano-Electronique Quantique et Spectroscopie

We demonstrate control of the thermal hysteresis in superconducting constrictions by adding a resistive shunt. In order to prevent thermal relaxation oscillations, the shunt resistor is placed in close proximity to the constriction, making the inductive current-switching time smaller than the thermal equilibration time. We investigate the current–voltage characteristics of the same constriction with and without the shunt-resistor. The widening of the hysteresis-free temperature range is explained on the basis of a simple model.

Domaines: Physique Générale [physics.gen-ph]

Nikhil Kumar, Clemens Winkelmann, Sourav Biswas, Hervé Courtois, Anjan K. Gupta. Controlling hysteresis in superconducting constrictions with a resistive shunt. Superconductor Science and Technology, 2015, 28 (7), pp.072003. ⟨10.1088/0953-2048/28/7/072003⟩. ⟨hal-01158770⟩