Andreev reflection and strongly enhanced magnetoresistance oscillations in GaInAsInP hetero.pdf

a r X i v : 0 7 0 4 .3 0 1 7 v 3 [ c o n d - m a t .m e s - h a l l ] 1 A u g 2 0 0 7 Andreev reflection and strongly enhanced magnetoresistance oscillations in Ga x In1?xAs/InP heterostructures with superconducting contacts Igor E. Batov,1, 2, 3, ? Thomas Scha?pers,2 Nikolai M. Chtchelkatchev,4 Hilde Hardtdegen,2 and Alexey V. Ustinov1 1Physikalisches Institut III, Universita?t Erlangen-Nu?rnberg, Erwin-Rommel-Strasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany 2Institute of Bio- and Nanosystems (IBN-1) and cni-Center of Nanoelectronic Systems for Information Technology, Research Centre Ju?lich GmbH, 52425 Ju?lich, Germany 3Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia 4L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117940 Moscow, Russia (Dated: February 1, 2008) We study the magnetotransport in small hybrid junctions formed by high-mobility GaxIn1?xAs/InP heterostructures coupled to superconducting (S) and normal metal (N) terminals. Highly transmissive superconducting contacts to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) located in a GaxIn1?xAs/InP heterostructure are realized by using a Au/NbN layer system. The magnetore- sistance of the S/2DEG/N structures is studied as a function of dc bias current and temperature. At bias currents below a critical value, the resistance of the S/2DEG/N structures develops a strong oscillatory dependence on the magnetic field, with an amplitude of the oscillations considerably larger than that of the reference N/2DEG/N structures. The experimental results are qualitatively explained by taking Andreev reflection in high magnetic fields into account. I. INTRODUCTION Mesoscopic systems consisting of superconduc- tor/semiconductor hybrid structures have attracted considerable attention in recent years.1,2,3 The carrier transport in superconductor/normal metal or super- conductor/semiconductor structures can be described in the framework of Andreev reflection.4 During an