Coulomb Blockade due to Quantum Phase-Slips Illustrated with Devices
Abstract
In order to illustrate the emergence of Coulomb blockade from coherent quantum phase-slip processes in thin superconducting wires, we propose and theoretically investigate two elementary setups, or "devices". The setups are derived from Cooper-pair box and Cooper-pair transistor, so we refer to them as QPS-box and QPS-transistor, respectively. We demonstrate that the devices exhibit sensitivity to a charge induced by a gate electrode, this being the main signature of Coulomb blockade. Experimental realization of these devices will unambiguously prove the Coulomb blockade as an effect of coherence of phase-slip processes. We analyze the emergence of discrete charging in the limit strong phase-slips. We have found and investigated six distinct regimes that are realized depending on the relation between three characteristic energy scales: inductive and charging energy, and phase-slip amplitude. For completeness, we include a brief discussion of dual Josephson-junction devices.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1101.0231,
title = {Coulomb Blockade due to Quantum Phase-Slips Illustrated with Devices},
author = {A. M. Hriscu and Yu. V. Nazarov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.0231},
year = {2015}
}