Gate modulation and interface engineering on Coulomb blockade in open superconducting islands

TL;DR

This paper investigates how gate modulation and interface engineering affect Coulomb blockade phenomena in open superconducting islands, revealing unique correlations with coupling strength distinct from quantum dots.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Coulomb blockade in superconducting islands is influenced by superconducting-normal interfaces, differing from behavior in open quantum dots.

Findings

Decreasing background conductance can weaken MCB in superconducting islands.

MCB in superconducting islands is linked to superconducting-normal interfaces.

Distinct correlation between coupling strength and MCB compared to quantum dots.

Abstract

Mesoscopic Coulomb blockade (MCB) is recognized as a phase-coherent variant of the conventional Coulomb blockade that arises in systems with open contacts. In open quantum dots, MCB is enhanced by a decrease in background conductance. This occurs because the reduction in coupling strength between the quantum dot and the outer reservoir renders the system more closed, thereby facilitating the emergence of conventional Coulomb blockade. In this work, we demonstrate that the MCB in open superconducting islands exhibits an different correlation with coupling strength compared to open quantum dots. Specifically, a decrease in background conductance may result in a weakening of the MCB. This observation indicates that the MCB in superconducting islands originates from the presence of superconducting-normal interfaces.