Influence of Supercurrents on Low-Temperature Thermopower in Mesoscopic N/S Structures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how supercurrents influence low-temperature thermopower in mesoscopic normal metal/superconductor structures, combining experimental measurements with numerical simulations to understand the effects of supercurrents created by magnetic fields and additional electrodes.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the impact of supercurrents on thermopower in mesoscopic N/S structures, validated by experiments and quasiclassical theory simulations.

Findings

Supercurrents significantly affect thermopower at low temperatures.

Magnetic field and electrode-induced supercurrents produce comparable effects.

Numerical simulations align well with experimental data.

Abstract

The thermopower of mesoscopic normal metal/superconductor structures has been measured at low temperatures. Effect of supercurrent present in normal part of the structure was studied in two cases: when it was created by applied external magnetic field and when it was applied directly using extra superconducting electrodes. Temperature and magnetic field dependencies of thermopower are compared to the numerical simulations based on the quasiclassical theory of the superconducting proximity effect.