Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen
TT 7: SC: Heterostructures, Andreev Scattering, Proximity Effect, Coexistence
TT 7.9: Talk
Monday, March 22, 2010, 16:30–16:45, H20
Bias-resolved measurements of charge imbalance in superconductors at ultra-low temperatures — •Florian Hübler1,2, Julien Camirand Lemyre1, Detlef Beckmann1, and Hilbert von Löhneysen2,3 — 1Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Institut für Nanotechnologie — 2Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Institut für Festkörperphysik — 3Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe, Germany
In this study we explore charge imbalance in mesoscopic normal-metal/superconductor multiterminal hybrid structures at ultra-low temperatures (T ≪ Tc). The investigated samples, structured by e-beam lithography and shadow evaporation, consist of a superconducting aluminum bar with several copper fingers forming tunnel contacts at different distances from each other. We measured in detail the local and non-local conductance of these structures as a function of the applied bias voltage V, the applied magnetic field B, the temperature T and the contact distance d. From these data the relaxation length λQ* was derived. The bias-resolved measurements show a transition from dominant elastic scattering close to the gap to inelastic scattering at higher bias. We measured a strong suppression of charge imbalance with magnetic field, which can be directly linked to the pair breaking parameter. In contrast practically no temperature dependence of the charge imbalance signal was observed below 0.5K. These results are relevant for the investigation of other non-local effects such as crossed Andreev reflexion and spin diffusion.