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Hybrid superconductor–quantum dot devices

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 703–711 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Advances in nanofabrication techniques have made it possible to make devices in which superconducting electrodes are connected to non-superconducting nanostructures such as quantum dots. The properties of these hybrid devices result from a combination of a macroscopic quantum phenomenon involving large numbers of electrons (superconductivity) and the ability to control single electrons, offered by quantum dots. Here we review research into electron transport and other fundamental processes that have been studied in these devices. We also describe potential applications, such as a transistor in which the direction of a supercurrent can be reversed by adding just one electron to a quantum dot.

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Figure 1: Three hybrid superconductor–quantum dot devices.
Figure 2: Characteristic energy scales and transport regimes.
Figure 3: Resonant Cooper-pair tunnelling in the strong-coupling regime.
Figure 4: Quasiparticle tunnelling in the weak-coupling regime.
Figure 5: Supercurrent reversal in the intermediate-coupling regime (Γ ∼ Δ ∼ U).
Figure 6: Progress towards molecular spin detectors, spin entanglers, and Josephson light-emitting diodes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Houzet, S. Frolov and L. Glazman for helpful discussions. S.D.F. acknowledges financial support from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) through the ACCESS and COHESION projects. W.W. acknowledges financial support from the ANR (ANR-08-NANO-002) and the European Research Council through the MolNanoSpin project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SPSMS/LaTEQS, CEA-INAC/UJF-Grenoble 1, 17 Rue des Martyrs, Grenoble, 38054, Cedex 9, France

    Silvano De Franceschi

  2. Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5046, Delft, 2600 GA, the Netherlands

    Leo Kouwenhoven

  3. Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstr. 82, Basel, CH-4056, Switzerland

    Christian Schönenberger

  4. Institut Néel, associé à l'UJF, CNRS, BP 166, Grenoble, 38042, Cedex 9, France

    Wolfgang Wernsdorfer

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Correspondence to Silvano De Franceschi.

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De Franceschi, S., Kouwenhoven, L., Schönenberger, C. et al. Hybrid superconductor–quantum dot devices. Nature Nanotech 5, 703–711 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.173

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