Self-consistent transport properties of superconducting nanostructures

Abstract

By solving tile Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation self-consistently, we compute transport properties of various normal-superconducting mesoscopic structures. Three structures are considered; a single superconducting island, a superconducting island with a delta-function scatterer at one interface and a superconducting island with a delta-fimction scatterer at the centre of the island. The calculated self-consistent I-V characteristics show significant structure, arising from the competition between scattering processes at the boundaries of the island and modification of the order parameter by quasi-particles and superflow. When the order parameter is significantly modified by the transport curre..