Nonequilibrium quasiparticles and $2e$ periodicity in single-Cooper-pair transistors

Abstract

We have fabricated single-Cooper-pair transistors in which the spatial profile of the superconducting gap energy was controlled by oxygen doping. The profile dramatically affects the switching current \textit{vs.} gate voltage curve of the transistor, changing its period from $1e$ to $2e$. A model based on nonequilibrium quasiparticles in the leads explains our results, including the surprising observation that even devices with a clean $2e$ period are ``poisoned'' by small numbers of these quasiparticles.