Switching Currents Limited by Single Phase Slips in One-Dimensional Superconducting Al Nanowires

An aluminum nanowire switches from superconducting to normal as the current is increased in an upsweep. The switching current (I(s)) averaged over upsweeps approximately follows the depairing critical current (I(c)) but falls below it. Fluctuations in I(s) exhibit three distinct regions of behaviors and are nonmonotonic in temperature: saturation well below the critical temperature T(c), an increase as T(2/3) at intermediate temperatures, and a rapid decrease close to T(c). Heat dissipation analysis indicates that a single phase slip is able to trigger switching at low and intermediate temperatures, whereby the T(2/3) dependence arises from the thermal activation of a phase slip, while saturation at low temperatures provides striking evidence that the phase slips by macroscopic quantum tunneling.