Electrostatic control of phase slips in Ti Josephson nanotransistors

TL;DR

This paper explores how an external static electric field influences phase slips in titanium Josephson nanotransistors, revealing effects distinct from thermal influences and suggesting new ways to control decoherence in superconducting devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates electrostatic control of phase slips in Ti Josephson junctions, showing effects beyond thermal quasiparticle overheating and opening pathways for device manipulation.

Findings

Electric field suppresses critical current independently of temperature.

Phase slip dynamics under electric field differ from thermal effects.

Potential for electrostatic manipulation of decoherence in superconducting nanostructures.

Abstract

The investigation of the switching current probability distribution of a Josephson junction is a conventional tool to gain information on the phase slips dynamics as a function of the temperature. Here we adopt this well-established technique to probe the impact of an external static electric field on the occurrence of phase slips in gated all-metallic titanium (Ti) Josephson weak links. We show, in a temperature range between 20 mK and 420 mK, that the evolution of the phase slips dynamics as a function of the electrostatic field starkly differs from that observed as a function of the temperature. This fact demonstrates, on the one hand, that the electric field suppression of the critical current is not simply related to a conventional thermal-like quasiparticle overheating in the weak-link region. On the other hand, our results may open the way to operate an electrostatic-driven manipulation of phase slips in metallic Josephson nanojunctions, which can be pivotal for the control of decoherence in superconducting nanostructures.