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Josephson current through a superconducting quantum point contact shorter than the coherence length

C. W. J. Beenakker, H. van Houten

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.3056 · Physical Review Letters

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Abstract

It is shown theoretically that the critical current of a smooth and impurity-free superconducting constriction increases stepwise as a function of its width. The step height at zero temperature is eΔ0/ħ, dependent on the energy gap Δ0 of the bulk superconductor but not on the junction parameters. This is the analog of the quantized conductance of a point contact in the normal state. It is essential that the constriction is short compared to the superconducting coherence length.

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