Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Mechanism for instability and formation of an inhomogeneous state in a superconductor with intensive tunnel injection

Journal Article · · Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States)
OSTI ID:6324238
The spatial distribution of the two-gap inhomogeneous state of superconducting tin films was investigated experimentally using a number of detectors at injection voltage V/sub i/approx. =2..delta../e. It was found that the initiation of the inhomogeneous state depended on how the current was fed into the generator. The spatial structure of the inhomogeneous state and the instability in the form of a negative voltage jump on the current-voltage characteristic of the generator, which leads to the inhomogeneous state, were found to be very sensitive to weak magnetic fields. The form of the current-voltage characteristic of low-resistance tunnel junctions for V/sub i/approx. =2..delta../e was very dependent on the dimensions of the junction and the transparency of the barrier. Instability was observed only for tunnel junctions whose dimensions exceeded the Josephson penetration depth of the magnetic field. The results are interpreted in terms of the presence in the junction of an inhomogeneous distribution of the constant component of the current, inherent in distributed Josephson junctions.
Research Organization:
Institute of Metal Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Ukranian SSR, Kiev
OSTI ID:
6324238
Journal Information:
Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Journal Name: Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States) Vol. 61:5; ISSN SPHJA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English