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Charge quantum interference device

Nature Physics volume 14, pages 590–594 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The demonstration of coherent quantum phase slips (CQPS) in disordered superconductors has opened up a new route towards exploring the fundamental charge–phase duality in superconductors, with the promise of devices with new functionalities and a robust quantum current standard based on CQPS. Here we demonstrate a device that integrates several CQPS junctions: the charge quantum interference device. The charge quantum interference device becomes the dual of the well-known superconducting quantum interference device, and is a manifestation of the Aharonov–Casher effect in a continuous superconducting system devoid of dielectric barriers.

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Fig. 1: Duality and sample design.
Fig. 2: Energy level spectroscopy of the CQUID.
Fig. 3: Fit to theory and parity state population.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. We thank Y. Nazarov and A. Semenov for fruitful discussions. S.T.S. thanks S. Diewald and L. Radtke for their technical support during fabrication and acknowledges support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the KHYS. This work was partially supported by the Increase Competitiveness Program of the NUST MISiS (grants no. K2-2015-002 and 2-2016-051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK

    S. E. de Graaf, T. Hönigl-Decrinis, A. Ya. Tzalenchuk & O. V. Astafiev

  2. Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    S. T. Skacel, H. Rotzinger & A. V. Ustinov

  3. Department of Physics, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

    T. Hönigl-Decrinis, R. Shaikhaidarov, V. Antonov, A. Ya. Tzalenchuk & O. V. Astafiev

  4. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Russia

    R. Shaikhaidarov & O. V. Astafiev

  5. Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena, Germany

    S. Linzen, M. Ziegler, U. Hübner, H.-G. Meyer & E. Il’ichev

  6. Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia

    V. Antonov

  7. Russian Quantum Center, National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow, Russia

    E. Il’ichev, A. V. Ustinov & O. V. Astafiev

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  1. S. E. de Graaf
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Contributions

O.V.A., S.E.d.G. and A.Y.T. conceived the experiment. S.E.d.G. designed the samples, performed the measurements with assistance from S.T.S., T.H.-D., R.S., V.A. and O.V.A., and analysed the data. S.L., M.Z., U.H., H.G.M. and E.I. developed the thin-film technology. S.T.S. fabricated the samples with assistance from H.R. and R.S. S.E.d.G. wrote the manuscript with input from O.V.A., S.T.S. and all other authors. All authors discussed the results.

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Correspondence to S. E. de Graaf.

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de Graaf, S.E., Skacel, S.T., Hönigl-Decrinis, T. et al. Charge quantum interference device. Nature Phys 14, 590–594 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0097-9

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