Reducing current noise in cryogenic experiments by vacuum-insulated cables.

We measure the current noise of several cryogenic cables in a pulse tube based dilution refrigerator at frequencies between about 1 mHz and 50 kHz. We show that vibration-induced noise can be efficiently suppressed by using vacuum-insulated cables between room temperature and the 2nd pulse tube stage. A noise peak below 4 fA at the 1.4 Hz operation frequency of the pulse tube and a white noise density of 0.44 fA/Hz in the millihertz range are obtained.

Quantum Fluctuations of a Superconductor Order Parameter.

Tunneling I-V characteristics between very narrow titanium nanowires and "massive" superconducting aluminum were measured. The clear trend was observed: the thinner the titanium electrode, the broader the singularity at eV = Δ1(Al) + Δ2(Ti). The phenomenon can be explained by broadening of the gap edge of the quasi-one-dimensional titanium channels due to quantum fluctuations of the order parameter modulus |Δ2|. The range of the nanowire diameters, where the effect is pronounced, correlates with dimensions where the phase fluctuations of the complex superconducting order parameter Δ = |Δ|e(iφ), the quantum phase slips, broadening the R(T) dependencies, have been observed.

Coulomb blockade and BLOCH oscillations in superconducting Ti nanowires.

Quantum fluctuations in quasi-one-dimensional superconducting channels leading to spontaneous changes of the phase of the order parameter by 2π, alternatively called quantum phase slips (QPS), manifest themselves as the finite resistance well below the critical temperature of thin superconducting nanowires and the suppression of persistent currents in tiny superconducting nanorings. Here we report the experimental evidence that in a current-biased superconducting nanowire the same QPS process is responsible for the insulating state--the Coulomb blockade. When exposed to rf radiation, the internal Bloch oscillations can be synchronized with the external rf drive leading to formation of quantized current steps on the I-V characteristic. The effects originate from the fundamental quantum duality of a Josephson junction and a superconducting nanowire governed by QPS--the QPS junction.