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Superconducting parity effect across the Anderson limit

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio Vlaic

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Stéphane Pons

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Tianzhen Zhang

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Alexandre Assouline

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Alexandre Zimmers

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Christophe David

    (Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Universités Paris-Saclay)

  • Guillemin Rodary

    (Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Universités Paris-Saclay)

  • Jean-Christophe Girard

    (Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Universités Paris-Saclay)

  • Dimitri Roditchev

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

  • Hervé Aubin

    (LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités)

Abstract

How small can superconductors be? For isolated nanoparticles subject to quantum size effects, P.W. Anderson in 1959 conjectured that superconductivity could only exist when the electronic level spacing δ is smaller than the superconducting gap energy Δ. Here we report a scanning tunnelling spectroscopy study of superconducting lead (Pb) nanocrystals grown on the (110) surface of InAs. We find that for nanocrystals of lateral size smaller than the Fermi wavelength of the 2D electron gas at the surface of InAs, the electronic transmission of the interface is weak; this leads to Coulomb blockade and enables the extraction of electron addition energy of the nanocrystals. For large nanocrystals, the addition energy displays superconducting parity effect, a direct consequence of Cooper pairing. Studying this parity effect as a function of nanocrystal volume, we find the suppression of Cooper pairing when the mean electronic level spacing overcomes the superconducting gap energy, thus demonstrating unambiguously the validity of the Anderson criterion.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Vlaic & Stéphane Pons & Tianzhen Zhang & Alexandre Assouline & Alexandre Zimmers & Christophe David & Guillemin Rodary & Jean-Christophe Girard & Dimitri Roditchev & Hervé Aubin, 2017. "Superconducting parity effect across the Anderson limit," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14549
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14549
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    Cited by:

    1. Juan Carlos Estrada Saldaña & Alexandros Vekris & Luka Pavešić & Peter Krogstrup & Rok Žitko & Kasper Grove-Rasmussen & Jesper Nygård, 2022. "Excitations in a superconducting Coulombic energy gap," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.

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