Nonequilibrium phenomena in multiple normal-superconducting tunnel heterostructures

Abstract

Using the nonequilibrium theory of superconductivity with the tunnel Hamiltonian, we consider a mesoscopic NISINISIN heterostructure, i.e., a structure consisting of five intermittent normal-metal (N) and superconducting (S) regions separated by insulating tunnel barriers (I). Applying the bias voltage between the outer normal electrodes one can drive the central N island very far from equilibrium. Depending on the resistance ratio of outer and inner tunnel junctions, one can realize either effective electron cooling in the central N island or create highly nonequilibrium energy distributions of electrons in both S and N islands. These distributions exhibit multiple peaks at a distance of integer multiples of the superconducting chemical potential. In the latter case the superconducting gap in the S islands is strongly suppressed as compared to its equilibrium value.