Enhancement of superconducting critical current by injection of quasiparticles in superconductor semiconductor devices

We report new measurements on 3-terminal superconductor semiconductor injec tion devices, demonstrating enhancement of the supercurrent by injection fr om a superconducting injector electrode. Two other electrodes were used as detectors. Applying a small voltage to the injector, reduced the maximum su percurrent between the detector electrodes. When further increasing the inj ection voltage to Delta/e, the critical current approached a new maximum. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.