SciPost Submission Page

Josephson effect in strongly disordered metallic wires

by Mustafa E. Ismagambetov, Aleksey V. Lunkin, Pavel M. Ostrovsky

Submission summary

Authors (as registered SciPost users):

Pavel Ostrovsky

Abstract

We study localization effects in Josephson junctions with two superconductors connected by a strongly disordered metallic wire of length $L$. The conventional description of the Josephson effect in such systems, based on the quasiclassical Usadel equation, neglects electron interference and is only applicable when $L$ is shorter than the localization length $\xi$ in the wire. We develop a more general theory for the Josephson effect using the non-linear sigma model that fully accounts for electron interference, and hence localization. We show that for $L \gg \xi$, three qualitatively different regimes of the Josephson current arise depending on the ratio of the superconducting order parameter $\Delta$ and the mean level spacing in the localization volume $\Delta_\xi$. We derive the average supercurrent as a function of the phase difference for all three regimes. Quite unexpectedly, we observe that the Ambegaokar-Baratoff relation between the average critical current and the normal-state conductance still holds in the strongly localized state when $\Delta_\xi \gg \Delta$ and $\xi \ll L \ll (\xi/\pi^2) \ln^2(\Delta_\xi/\Delta)$.

Author indications on fulfilling journal expectations

• Provide a novel and synergetic link between different research areas.
• Open a new pathway in an existing or a new research direction, with clear potential for multi-pronged follow-up work
• Detail a groundbreaking theoretical/experimental/computational discovery
• Present a breakthrough on a previously-identified and long-standing research stumbling block