0000000000765146
AUTHOR
Yuri Pashkin
Experiments on tunnelling in small normal-metal junctions influenced by dissipative environment: Critical comparison to the theories of quantum fluctuations
We report on experiments of charging in small normal metal tunnel junctions attached to well-defined resistive impedances. Our experiments are in very good agreement with the phase-correlation (PC) theory but not with the simplified voltage fluctuation (VF) model. The strong tunnelling corrections to the PC theory make the agreement with our results even better in the case of junctions with low resistance.
Observation of thermally excited charge transport modes in a superconducting single-electron transistor
Experiments on a superconducting single-electron transistor are reported. A new structure in the current-voltage characteristics at subgap voltages was observed when temperature was not too low as compared to the superconducting transition temperature Tc of the sample. The strength of the anomalies increases exponentially with temperature. The dominating features arise from matching of singularities in the density of states on two sides of a tunnel junction, and from the Josephson-quasiparticle cycle. Thermal excitations are essential for the former process, and they also make the latter process possible at low voltages.