R. Deblock

Acoustoelectric Effects in Carbon Nanotubes

We show that it is possible to detect mechanical bending modes on 1µm long ropes of single walled-carbon nanotubes suspended between 2 metallic contacts. This is done by measuring either their dc resistance in a region of strong temperature dependence (in the vicinity of superconducting or metal-insulator transition), or their critical current. The vibrations are excited by a radio-frequency electric field produced by an antenna located in the vicinity of the sample. We analyze the mechanism of detection of the mechanical resonances in terms of heating and phase breaking effects.

Detection of Quantum Noise from an Electrically Driven Two-Level System

The electrical noise of mesoscopic devices can be strongly influenced by the quantum motion of electrons. To probe this effect, we have measured the current fluctuations at high frequency (5 to 90 gigahertz) using a superconductor-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction as an on-chip spectrum analyzer. By coupling this frequency-resolved noise detector to a quantum device, we can measure the high-frequency, nonsymmetrized noise as demonstrated for a Josephson junction. The same scheme is used to detect the current fluctuations arising from coherent charge oscillations in a two-level system, a superconducting charge qubit. A narrow band peak is observed in the spectral noise density at the frequency of the coherent charge oscillations.

Diamagnetic Orbital Response of Mesoscopic Silver Rings

We report measurements of the flux-dependent orbital magnetic susceptibility of an ensemble of 10(5) disconnected silver rings at 217 MHz. Because of the strong spin-orbit scattering rate in silver this experiment is a test of existing theories on ensemble averaged persistent currents. Below 100 mK the rings exhibit a magnetic signal with a flux periodicity of h/2e consistent with averaged persistent currents, whose amplitude is of the order of 0.3 nA. The sign of the oscillations indicates unambiguously diamagnetism in the vicinity of zero magnetic field. This sign is a priori not consistent with theoretical predictions for average persistent currents. We discuss several possible explanations of this result.

Proximity effect and multiple Andreev reflections in few-layer graphene

We have investigated electronic transport of few-layer graphene (FLG) connected to superconducting electrodes. The device is prepared by mechanical exfoliation of graphite. A small mesa of FLG is connected to two tungsten electrodes, separated by 2.5 μm, grown by focused ion beam. Whereas the tungsten electrodes are superconducting below 4 K, the proximity effect in FLG develops below 1 K, and is characterized by a factor 2 differential resistance drop at low bias. We find multiple Andreev reflection peaks at voltages corresponding to submultiples of 2Δ/e (with Δ the superconducting gap of the electrodes), which persist up to fields of a few tesla.

Quantum transport through carbon nanotubes: Proximity-induced and intrinsic superconductivity

We report low-temperature transport measurements on suspended single-walled carbon nanotubes ~both individual tubes and ropes!. The technique we have developed, where tubes are soldered on low-resistive metallic contacts across a slit, enables a good characterization of the samples by transmission electron microscopy. It is possible to obtain individual tubes with a room-temperature resistance smaller than 40 k V, which remain metallic down to very low temperatures. When the contact pads are superconducting, nanotubes exhibit proximity-induced superconductivity with surprisingly large values of supercurrent. We have also recently observed intrinsic superconductivity in ropes of single-walled carbon nanotubes connected to normal contacts, when the distance between the normal electrodes is large enough, since otherwise superconductivity is destroyed by ~inverse! proximity effect. These experiments indicate the presence of attractive interactions in carbon nanotubes which overcome Coulomb repulsive interactions at low temperature, and enable investigation of superconductivity in a one-dimensional limit never explored before.

Tuning the Josephson current in carbon nanotubes with the Kondo effect

We investigate the Josephson current in a single wall carbon nanotube connected to superconducting electrodes. We focus on the parameter regime in which transport is dominated by Kondo physics. A sizeable supercurrent is observed for odd number of electrons on the nanotube when the Kondo temperature TK is sufficiently large compared to the superconducting gap. On the other hand when, in the center of the Kondo ridge, TK is slightly smaller than the superconducting gap, the supercurrent is found to be extremely sensitive to the gate voltage VBG. Whereas it is largely suppressed at the center of the ridge, it shows a sharp increase at a finite value of VBG. This increase can be attributed to a doublet-singlet transition of the spin state of the nanotube island leading to a phase shift in the current phase relation. This transition is very sensitive to the asymmetry of the contacts and is in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Proximity effect in a superconductor-metallofullerene-superconductor molecular junction

We report low-temperature transport measurements through molecules of Gd metallofullerenes between superconducting suspended electrodes. The presence and number of molecules in the 2-nm-wide gap between electrodes was determined by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. We find that a junction containing a single metallofullerene dimer between superconducting electrodes displays signs of proximityinduced superconductivity. In contrast, no proximity effect develops in junctions containing a larger cluster of metallofullerenes. These results can be understood by taking into account multiple Andreev reflections, and the spin states of the Gd atoms.

ac electric and magnetic responses of nonconnected Aharonov-Bohm rings

The signature of phase coherence on the electric and magnetic response of 10 5 nonconnected Aharonov-Bohm rings is measured by a resonant method at 350 MHz between 20 mK and 500 mK. The rings are etched in a GaAs-Al x Ga 1 - x As heterojunction. Both quantities exhibit an oscillating behavior with a periodicity con-sistent with half a flux quantum Φ 0 /2=h/2e in a ring We find that electric screening is enhanced when time-reversal symmetry is broken by magnetic field, leading to a positive magnetopolarizability, in agreement with theoretical predictions for isolated rings at finite frequency. Temperature and electronic-density dependences are investigated. The dissipative part of the electric response, the electric absorption, is also measured and leads to a negative magnetoconductance. The magnetic orbital response of the very same rings is also investigated. It is consistent with diamagnetic persistent currents of 0.25 nA. This magnetic response is an order of magnitude smaller than the electric one, in qualitative agreement with theoretical expectations.

Measurement of Quantum Noise in a Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dot in the Kondo Regime

The current emission noise of a carbon nanotube quantum dot in the Kondo regime is measured at frequencies ν of the order or higher than the frequency associated with the Kondo effect k(B)T (K)/h, with TK the Kondo temperature. The carbon nanotube is coupled via an on-chip resonant circuit to a quantum noise detector, a superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction. We find for hν ≈ k(B)T(K) a Kondo effect related singularity at a voltage bias eV ≈ hν, and a strong reduction of this singularity for hν ≈ 3k(B)T(K), in good agreement with theory. Our experiment constitutes a new original tool for the investigation of the nonequilibrium dynamics of many-body phenomena in nanoscale devices.

Emission and absorption quantum noise measurement with an on-chip resonant circuit.

Using a quantum detector, a superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction, we probe separately the emission and absorption noise in the quantum regime of a superconducting resonant circuit at equilibrium. At low temperature the resonant circuit exhibits only absorption noise related to zero point fluctuations, whereas at higher temperature emission noise is also present. By coupling a Josephson junction, biased above the superconducting gap, to the same resonant circuit, we directly measure the noise power of quasiparticles tunneling through the junction at two resonance frequencies. It exhibits a strong frequency dependence, consistent with theoretical predictions.