Destroying superconductivity in thin films with an electric field

Abstract

In this paper we use a Ginzburg-Landau approach to show that a suitably strong electric field can drive a phase transition from a superconductor to a normal metal. The transition is induced by taking into account corrections to the permittivity due to the superconductive gap and persists even when screening effects are considered. We test the model against recent experimental observations in which a strong electric field has been observed to control the supercurrent in superconducting thin films. We find excellent agreement with the experimental data and are able to explain several observed features. We additionally suggest a way to test our theoretical proposal via superconductor-superconductor electron tunneling.

arXiv comment5+5 pages, 13 figs; version published in Physical Review Research

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• Gate-controlled supercurrent effect in dry-etched Dayem bridges of non-centrosymmetric niobium rhenium
• Tailoring of the interference-induced surface superconductivity by an applied electric field
• Multimode operation of a superconducting nanowire switch in the nanosecond regime
• Microscopic mechanism of electric field-induced superconductivity suppression in metallic thin films