Proximity superconductivity in atom-by-atom crafted quantum dots.

ABSTRACT: Gapless materials in electronic contact with superconductors acquire proximity-induced superconductivity in a region near the interface^1,2. Numerous proposals build on this addition of electron pairing to originally non-superconducting systems and predict intriguing phases of matter, including topological^3-7, odd-frequency⁸, nodal-point⁹ or Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov¹⁰ superconductivity. Here we investigate the most miniature example of the proximity effect on only a single spin-degenerate quantum level of a surface state confined in a quantum corral¹¹ on a superconducting substrate, built atom by atom by a scanning tunnelling microscope. Whenever an eigenmode of the corral is pitched close to the Fermi energy by adjus

SUBMITTER: Schneider L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10482682 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature