Charge imbalance observed in voltage-biased superconductor–normal tunnel junctions

R. Yagi
Phys. Rev. B 73, 134507 – Published 7 April 2006

Abstract

We have studied the tunneling current of a superconductor-insulator-normal tunnel junction connected to a nonequilibrium superconductor in which nonvanishing charge imbalance is present, by injection experiments using multiterminal devices fabricated with electron beam lithography. We found that the tunneling current could be separated into excess current, due to charge imbalance, and normal current, which showed clear and different dependences on the bias voltage, as expected from the theory of charge imbalance [M. Tinkham, Phys. Rev. B 6, 1747 (1972)]. We also found in the analysis of the normal current that nonequilibrium distributions were created in the normal electrode; they were presumably caused by excitation due to hot electrons that tunneled from the nonequilibrium superconductor.

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  • Received 7 February 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.134507

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

R. Yagi

  • Department of Quantum Matter, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter (ADSM), Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8530, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 73, Iss. 13 — 1 April 2006

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