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Quantum engineering

Superconducting nanowires

Nature volume 404, pages 948–949 (2000)Cite this article

The continuing miniaturization of electronic devices has reached system sizes of ten nanometres, where quantum mechanical effects become important. A fundamental question is how the collective properties of these devices, such as superconductivity, are affected when the system's dimensions are reduced. Another issue is how energy dissipation influences quantum effects, eventually leading to a crossover to classical behaviour.

On page 971of this issue, A. Bezryadin, C. Lau and M. Tinkham1 report the results of experiments with ultrathin superconducting wires fabricated using an original technique. They show that a thin superconducting wire is a quantum system, which can be superconducting or insulating depending on the interaction of the system with its environment. The study of these non-classical effects is crucial in order to establish the fundamental limits of conventional devices, and because such effects open new perspectives for future applications, including ‘quantum-state engineering’ based on superconducting elements2,3.

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Figure 1: A phase-slip process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik, Universität Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe , D-76128, Germany

    Gerd Schön

  2. the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut für Nanotechnologie, Karlsruhe, D-76021, Germany

    Gerd Schön

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  1. Gerd Schön
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Correspondence to Gerd Schön.

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Schön, G. Superconducting nanowires. Nature 404, 948–949 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35010260

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