Proximity-induced gap in nanowires with a thin superconducting shell

Thomas Kiendl, Felix von Oppen, and Piet W. Brouwer
Phys. Rev. B 100, 035426 – Published 22 July 2019

Abstract

Coupling a normal-metal wire to a superconductor induces an excitation gap Δind in the normal metal. In the absence of disorder, the induced excitation gap is strongly suppressed by finite-size effects if the thickness DS of the superconductor is much smaller than the thickness DN of the normal metal and the superconducting coherence length ξ. We show that the presence of disorder, either in the bulk or at the exposed surface of the superconductor, significantly enhances the magnitude of Δind, such that Δind approaches the superconducting gap Δ in the limit of strong disorder. We also discuss the shift of energy bands inside the normal-metal wire as a result of the coupling to the superconducting shell.

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  • Received 25 February 2019
  • Revised 6 July 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.035426

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Thomas Kiendl1, Felix von Oppen1,2, and Piet W. Brouwer1

  • 1Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
  • 2Institute of Quantum Information and Matter, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 3 — 15 July 2019

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