Abstract
It is shown theoretically that the critical current of a smooth and impurity-free superconducting constriction increases stepwise as a function of its width. The step height at zero temperature is e/ħ, dependent on the energy gap of the bulk superconductor but not on the junction parameters. This is the analog of the quantized conductance of a point contact in the normal state. It is essential that the constriction is short compared to the superconducting coherence length.
- Received 21 March 1991
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.3056
©1991 American Physical Society