Magnetic-field-induced stabilization of nonequillibrium superconductivity in a normal-metal/insulator/superconductor junction

J.T. Peltonen, J.T. Muhonen, M. Meschke, N.B. Kopnin, J.P. Pekola

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

A small magnetic field is found to enhance relaxation processes in a superconductor, thus stabilizing superconductivity in nonequilibrium conditions. In a normal-metal (N)/insulator/superconductor (S) tunnel junction, applying a field of the order of 100μT leads to significantly improved cooling of the N island by quasiparticle (QP) tunneling. These findings are attributed to faster QP relaxation within the S electrodes as a result of enhanced QP drain through regions with a locally suppressed energy gap due to magnetic vortices in the S leads at some distance from the junction.
Original languageEnglish
Article number220502
Pages (from-to)1-4
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume84
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Dec 2011
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • magnetic field
  • nonequilibrium superconductivity
  • tunnel junction

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