Supercurrent Spectroscopy of Andreev States

We measure the excitation spectrum of a superconducting atomic contact. In addition to the usual continuum above the superconducting gap, the single-particle excitation spectrum contains discrete, spin-degenerate Andreev levels inside the gap. Quasiparticle excitations are induced by a broadband on-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. Bretheau, Ç. Ö. Girit, C. Urbina, D. Esteve, H. Pothier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2013-12-01
Series:Physical Review X
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.3.041034
Description
Summary:We measure the excitation spectrum of a superconducting atomic contact. In addition to the usual continuum above the superconducting gap, the single-particle excitation spectrum contains discrete, spin-degenerate Andreev levels inside the gap. Quasiparticle excitations are induced by a broadband on-chip microwave source and detected by measuring changes in the supercurrent flowing through the atomic contact. Since microwave photons excite quasiparticles in pairs, two types of transitions are observed: Andreev transitions, which consist of putting two quasiparticles in an Andreev level, and transitions to odd states with a single quasiparticle in an Andreev level and the other one in the continuum. In contrast to absorption spectroscopy, supercurrent spectroscopy allows detection of long-lived odd states.
ISSN:2160-3308