Doubled full shot noise in quantum coherent superconductor-semiconductor junctions

We performed low temperature shot noise measurements in superconductor (TiN) strongly disordered normal metal (heavily doped Si) weakly transparent junctions. We show that the conductance has a maximum due to coherent multiple Andreev reflections at low energy and that the shot noise is then twice the Poisson noise (S = 4eI). When the subgap conductance reaches its minimum at finite voltage the shot noise changes to the normal value (S = 2eI) due to a large quasiparticle contribution.     

Spin-torque shot noise in magnetic tunnel junctions

A spin polarized current may transfer angular momentum to a ferromagnet, resulting in a spin-torque phenomenon. At the same time the shot noise, associated with the current, leads to a nonequilibrium stochastic force acting on the ferromagnet. We derive a stochastic version of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for a magnetization of a "free" ferromagnetic layer in contact with a "fixed" ferromagnet. We solve the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation and show that the nonequilibrium noise yields to a nonmonotonic dependence of the precession spectrum linewidth on the current.     

Frequency-dependent shot noise in long disordered superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor contacts

The shot noise in long diffusive superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor contacts is calculated using the semiclassical approach. At low frequencies and for purely elastic scattering, the voltage dependence of the noise is of the form S(I) = (4Delta+2eV)/3R. The electron-electron scattering suppresses the noise at small voltages resulting in vanishing noise yet infinite dS(I)/dV at V = 0. The distribution function of electrons consists of a series of steps, and the frequency dependence of noise exhibits peculiarities at omega = neV, omega = neV-2Delta, and omega = 2Delta-neV for integer n.     

Effect of electron-phonon scattering on shot noise in nanoscale junctions

We investigate the effect of electron-phonon inelastic scattering on shot noise in nanoscale junctions in the regime of quasiballistic transport. We predict that when the local thermal energy of the junction is larger than its lowest vibrational mode energy eV(c), the inelastic contribution to shot noise (conductance) increases (decreases) with bias as V (sqrt[V]). The corresponding Fano factor thus increases as sqrt[V]. We also show that the inelastic contribution to the Fano factor saturates with increasing thermal current exchanged between the junction and the bulk electrodes to a value which, for V > V(c), is independent of bias. These predictions can be readily tested experimentally.     

Limitations in cooling electrons using normal-metal-superconductor tunnel junctions

We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally two limiting factors in cooling electrons using biased tunnel junctions to extract heat from a normal metal into a superconductor. First, when the injection rate of electrons exceeds the internal relaxation rate in the metal to be cooled, the electrons do not obey the Fermi-Dirac distribution, and the concept of temperature cannot be applied as such. Second, at low bath temperatures, states within the gap induce anomalous heating and yield a theoretical limit of the achievable minimum temperature.     

Andreev states and shot noise in bicrystal junctions of cuprate superconductors

Experimentally observed features of the electrical and noise characteristics of bicrystal junctions of cuprate superconductors, such as linearity of the critical current density versus square root of the junction transparency and increase in the spectral density of shot noise for small bias voltages (below the superconducting gap), indicate that the superconducting current in cuprate bicrystal junctions is determined by the passage of quasi-particles through a potential barrier at the superconductor boundaries. This process involves bound states appearing as a result of multiple Andreev reflections in superconductors with dominant wavefunction components of the d _x ² ? _y ² symmetry type. At the same time, interpretation of the experimental current-phase and current-magnetic field curves requires that the character of faceting at the bicrystal junctions would be also taken into account.     

铁磁-绝缘层-铁磁-d波超导结中的量子干涉效应对微分电导与散粒噪声的影响

通过求解BogoliubovedeGennes(BdG)方程,利用推广的BlonderTinkhamKlapwijk(BTK)理论,计算铁磁绝缘层铁磁d波超导结中的微分电导、平均电流和散粒噪声功率.研究表明,系统的微分电导和散粒噪声与平均电流的比值都随中间铁磁层厚度作周期性振荡,振荡的幅度随绝缘层势垒增高而变大,随铁磁层中磁交换劈裂的增强而变小. 关键词： 微分电导 散粒噪声 磁交换劈裂     

Sub-Poissonian shot noise in graphene

We calculate the mode-dependent transmission probability of massless Dirac fermions through an ideal strip of graphene (length L, width W, no impurities or defects) to obtain the conductance and shot noise as a function of Fermi energy. We find that the minimum conductivity of order e2/h at the Dirac point (when the electron and hole excitations are degenerate) is associated with a maximum of the Fano factor (the ratio of noise power and mean current). For short and wide graphene strips the Fano factor at the Dirac point equals 1/3, 3 times smaller than for a Poisson process. This is the same value as for a disordered metal, which is remarkable since the classical dynamics of the Dirac fermions is ballistic.     

Electronic shot noise in fractal conductors

By solving a master equation in the Sierpiński lattice and in a planar random-resistor network, we determine the scaling with size L of the shot noise power P due to elastic scattering in a fractal conductor. We find a power-law scaling P proportional, variantL;{d_{f}-2-alpha}, with an exponent depending on the fractal dimension d_{f} and the anomalous diffusion exponent alpha. This is the same scaling as the time-averaged current I[over ], which implies that the Fano factor F=P/2eI[over ] is scale-independent. We obtain a value of F=1/3 for anomalous diffusion that is the same as for normal diffusion, even if there is no smallest length scale below which the normal diffusion equation holds. The fact that F remains fixed at 1/3 as one crosses the percolation threshold in a random-resistor network may explain recent measurements of a doping-independent Fano factor in a graphene flake.     

Chirality effect in disordered graphene ribbon junctions

We investigate the influence of edge chirality on the electronic transport in clean or disordered graphene ribbon junctions. By using the tight-binding model and the Landauer-Büttiker formalism, the junction conductance is obtained. In the clean sample, the zero-magnetic-field junction conductance is strongly chirality-dependent in both unipolar and bipolar ribbons, whereas the high-magnetic-field conductance is either chirality-independent in the unipolar or chirality-dependent in the bipolar ribbon. Furthermore, we study the disordered sample in the presence of magnetic field and find that the junction conductance is always chirality-insensitive for both unipolar and bipolar ribbons with adequate disorders. In addition, the disorder-induced conductance plateaus can exist in all chiral bipolar ribbons provided the disorder strength is moderate. These results suggest that we can neglect the effect of edge chirality in fabricating electronic devices based on the magnetotransport in a disordered graphene ribbon.     

Spin tunneling in junctions with disordered ferromagnets

We provide compelling evidence to establish that, contrary to one's elementary guess, the tunneling spin polarization (TSP) of amorphous CoFeB is larger than that of fcc CoFeB. First-principles atomic and electronic structure calculations reveal striking agreement between the measured TSP and the predicted s-electron spin polarization. Given the disordered structure of the ternary alloy, not only do these results strongly endorse our communal understanding of tunneling through AlO(x), but they also portray the key concepts that demand primary consideration in such complex systems.     

Superconducting-insulator transition in disordered Josephson junctions networks

The superconducting-insulator transition is simulated in disordered networks of Josephson junctions with thermally activated Arrhenius-like resistive shunt. By solving the conductance matrix of the network, the transition is reproduced in different experimental conditions by tuning thickness, charge density and disorder degree. In particular, on increasing fluctuations of the parameters entering the Josephson coupling and the Coulomb energy of the junctions, the transition occurs for decreasing values of the critical temperature T _c and increasing values of the activation temperature T _o . The results of the simulation compare well with recent experiments where the mesoscopic fluctuations of the phase have been suggested as the mechanism underlying the phenomenon of emergent granularityin otherwise homogeneous films. The proposed approach is compared with the results obtained on TiN films and nanopatterned arrays of weak-links, where the superconductor-insulator transition is directly stimulated.     

Tunneling anomaly in disordered metal silicide-silicon junctions

Tunneling measurements on Ti-, Cr-, and Al-Schottky diodes are performed after transient annealing to form an interfacial silicide. A large zero-bias resistance anomaly is observed for Ti and Cr with a square-root law in the temperature dependence. The observation is interpreted in terms of electron-electron correlation in a disordered metal layer at the silicide-silicon interface. For aluminum which does not form a silicide, the tunneling anomaly is not observed.     

Asymmetric quantum shot noise in quantum dots

We analyze the frequency-dependent noise of a current through a quantum dot which is coupled to Fermi leads and which is in the Coulomb blockade regime. We show that the asymmetric shot noise, as a function of detection frequency, shows steps and becomes super-Poissonian. This provides experimental access to the quantum fluctuations of the current. We present an exact calculation of the noise for a single dot level and a perturbative evaluation of the noise in Born approximation (sequential tunneling regime but without Markov approximation) for the general case of many levels with charging interaction.     

Multiple-charge-quanta shot noise in superconducting atomic contacts

We have measured shot noise in aluminum atomic point contacts containing a small number of conduction channels of known transmissions. In the normal state, we find that the noise power is reduced from its Poissonian value and reaches the partition limit, as calculated from the transmissions. In the superconducting state, the noise reveals the large effective charge associated with each elementary transfer process, in excellent agreement with the predictions of the quantum theory of multiple Andreev reflections.     

Fractional shot noise in the kondo regime

Transport through quantum dots in the Kondo regime obeys an effective low-temperature theory in terms of weakly interacting quasiparticles. Despite the weakness of the interaction, we find that the backscattering current and hence the shot noise are dominated by two-quasiparticle scattering. We show that the simultaneous presence of one- and two-quasiparticle scattering results in a universal average charge 5/3e as measured by shot-noise experiments. An experimental verification of our prediction would constitute a most stringent test of the low-energy theory of the Kondo effect.     

Finite-size effect in shot noise in hopping conduction

We study a current shot noise in a macroscopic insulator based on a two-dimensional electron system in GaAs in a variable range hopping (VRH) regime. At low temperature and in a sufficiently depleted sample a shot noise close to a full Poissonian value is measured. This suggests an observation of a finite-size effect in shot noise in the VRH conduction and demonstrates a possibility of accurate quasiparticle charge measurements in the insulating regime.     

Coulomb drag shot noise in coupled Luttinger liquids

Coulomb drag shot noise has been studied theoretically for 1D interacting electron systems, which are realized, e.g., in single-wall nanotubes. We show that under adiabatic coupling to external leads, the Coulomb drag shot noise of two coupled or crossed nanotubes contains surprising effects, in particular, a complete locking of the shot noise in the tubes. In contrast to Coulomb drag of the average current, the noise locking is based on a symmetry of the underlying Hamiltonian and is not limited to asymptotically small energy scales.