Nonequilibrium characteristics in all-superconducting tunnel structures

Abstract

We study the nonequilibrium characteristics of superconducting tunnel structures in the case when one of the superconductors is a small island confined between large superconductors. The state of this island can be probed for example via the supercurrent flowing through it. We study both the far-from-equilibrium limit when the rate of injection for the electrons into the island exceeds the energy relaxation inside it, and the quasiequilibrium limit when the electrons equilibrate between themselves. We also address the crossover between these limits employing the collision integral derived for the superconducting case. The clearest signatures of the nonequilibrium limit are the anomalous heating effects seen as a supercurrent suppression at low voltages, and the hysteresis at voltages close to the gap edge $2\Delta /e$, resulting from the peculiar form of the nonequilibrium distribution function.

8 pages, 10 figures

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• Nonequilibrium spin-dependent phenomena in mesoscopic superconductor-normal metal tunnel structures
• Influence of interface transmissivity and inelastic scattering on the electronic entropy and specific heat of diffusive SNS Josephson junctions
• Interplay of the inverse proximity effect and magnetic field in out-of-equilibrium single-electron devices
• Recovery of a SINIS turnstile accuracy in a strongly non-equilibrium regime