Construction of a Cantilever-Andreev-Tunneling rig and its applications to superconductors

Abstract

A technique for point-contact spectroscopy, based on an electro-mechanical mechanism for the contact formation, has been developed. It is designed to be used in both ${}^4$He and ${}^3$He cryostats. The performance has been demonstrated by conductance measurements on various kinds of superconductors, including the conventional superconductor Nb, the two-band superconductor MgB${}_2$, and the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn${}_5$. Characteristic conductance spectra obtained prove this technique is useful for the investigation of the superconducting order parameter. Advantages of this technique such as its simplicity and versatility are described.

arXiv comment7 Pages, 7 figures, typeset in LaTeX, submitted to Rev. Sci. Instrum

References in corpus (11)

• Superconductivity of metallic boron in MgB_2
• Beyond Eliashberg superconductivity in MgB2: anharmonicity, two-phonon scattering, and multiple gaps
• Evidence for two superconducting energy gaps in MgB2 by point-contact spectroscopy
• Angular Position of Nodes in the Superconducting Gap of Quasi-2D Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn_5
• Specific Heat of Mg ^{11}B_2
• Two-Band Superconductivity in MgB2
• Direct evidence for two-band superconductivity in MgB_2 single crystals from directional point-contact spectroscopy in magnetic fields
• The role of critical current on point contact Andreev Reflection spectrum between a normal metal and a superconductor
• Field-angle Dependence of the Zero-Energy Density of States in the Unconventional Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5
• Point-Contact Spectroscopy of the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn${}_5$
• Hexagonal and Square Flux Line Lattices in CeCoIn5

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Andreev Reflection in Heavy-Fermion Superconductors and Order Parameter Symmetry in CeCoIn_5
• Andreev reflection and order parameter symmetry in heavy-fermion superconductors: the case of CeCoIn${}_5$
• Point-contact spectroscopic studies on normal and superconducting AFe_2As_2-type iron-pnictide single crystals
• Superconducting order parameter in nonmagnetic borocarbides RNi${}_2$B${}_2$C (R=Y, Lu) probed by point-contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy
• Undergraduate experiment in point-contact spectroscopy with a Nb/Au junction
• Andreev reflection spectroscopy of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn${}_5$ along three different crystallographic orientations
• Automated fabrication technique of gold tips for use in point-contact spectroscopy
• Design and construction of a point-contact spectroscopy rig with lateral scanning capability
• Point-contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy of heavy-fermion-metal/superconductor junctions