Observation of Interactions between Two Superconducting Phase-Slip Centers

Abstract

A superconducting microbridge has been used as a probe to detect quasiparticle diffusion currents and "heating", produced by a phase-slip center (PSC) in a second microbridge. The critical current of the detector is modulated by the voltage ${V}_{\mathrm{PSC}}$ across the PSC. This modulation provides a measure of quasiparticle current ${I}_{Q}$ thru the PSC and gives ${I}_{Q}=\frac{{V}_{\mathrm{PSC}}}{{R}_{D}}$ for low voltages, ${R}_{D}$ being the high-current differential resistance of the PSC.