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Nanoscale phase engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator

Nature Nanotechnology volume 11, pages 258–262 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Macroscopic quantum phase coherence has one of its pivotal expressions in the Josephson effect1, which manifests itself both in charge2 and energy transport3,4,5. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core of coherent caloritronics4,5,6, and is expected to be a key tool in a number of nanoscience fields, including solid-state cooling7, thermal isolation8,9, radiation detection7, quantum information10,11 and thermal logic12. Here, we show the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat modulator13 designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the phase-coherent component of thermal currents. Our device provides magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the exact correspondence in the phase engineering of charge and heat currents, breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters14, heat pumps15 and time-dependent electronic engines16,17,18,19.

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Figure 1: Quantum modulator structure.
Figure 2: Electrical response of the interferometer.
Figure 3: Thermal response of the Josephson heat modulator at 25 mK.
Figure 4: Behaviour of the device at different bath temperatures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Altimiras for contributions concerning the design of the samples, and P. Solinas for valuable discussions. The MIUR-FIRB2013–Project Coca (grant no. RBFR1379UX) and the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 615187- COMANCHE are acknowledged for partial financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza S. Silvestro 12, Pisa, I-56127, Italy

    Antonio Fornieri, Christophe Blanc, Riccardo Bosisio, Sophie D'Ambrosio & Francesco Giazotto

  2. SPIN-CNR, Via Dodecaneso 33, Genova, I-16146, Italy

    Riccardo Bosisio

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  1. Antonio Fornieri
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Contributions

C.B. fabricated the samples. A.F., C.B. and S.D.A. performed the measurements. A.F., C.B. and R.B. analysed the data and carried out the simulations. F.G. conceived the experiment. All authors discussed the results and their implications equally at all stages, and all authors wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Francesco Giazotto.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Fornieri, A., Blanc, C., Bosisio, R. et al. Nanoscale phase engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator. Nature Nanotech 11, 258–262 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.281

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