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Electron and hole transmission through superconductor — Normal metal interfaces

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Abstract

We have investigated the transmission of electrons and holes through interfaces between superconducting aluminum (T c = 1.2K) and various normal non-magnetic metals (copper, gold, palladium, platinum, and silver) using Andreev-reflection spectroscopy at T = 0.1K. We analysed the point contacts with the modified BTK theory that includes Dynes’ lifetime as a fitting parameter Γ in addition to superconducting energy gap 2Δ and normal reflection described by Z. For contact areas from 1 nm2 to 10000nm2 the BTK Z parameter was 0.5, corresponding to transmission coefficients of about 80%, independent of the normal metal. The very small variation of Z indicates that the interfaces have a negligible dielectric tunneling barrier. Fermi surface mismatch does not account for the observed transmission coefficient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wihuri Physical Laboratory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, FIN-20014, Turku, Finland

    Kurt Gloos & Elina Tuuli

  2. Turku University Centre for Materials and Surfaces (MatSurf), FIN-20014, Turku, Finland

    Kurt Gloos

  3. National Doctoral Programme in Nanoscience (NGS-NANO), University of Jyväskylä, FIN-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Elina Tuuli

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  1. Kurt Gloos
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  2. Elina Tuuli
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Correspondence to Kurt Gloos.

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Gloos, K., Tuuli, E. Electron and hole transmission through superconductor — Normal metal interfaces. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 62, 1575–1579 (2013). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.62.1575

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