Quantized critical supercurrent in SrTiO 3 -based quantum point contacts

Abstract

Superconductivity in SrTiO3 occurs at remarkably low carrier densities and therefore, unlike conventional superconductors, can be controlled by electrostatic gates. Here, we demonstrate nanoscale weak links connecting superconducting leads, all within a single material, SrTiO3. Ionic liquid gating accumulates carriers in the leads, and local electrostatic gates are tuned to open the weak link. These devices behave as superconducting quantum point contacts with a quantized critical supercurrent. This is a milestone toward establishing SrTiO3 as a single-material platform for mesoscopic superconducting transport experiments that also intrinsically contains the necessary ingredients to engineer topological superconductivity.