Superconducting weak links created by electromigration

In this presentation, we explore in-situ controlled electromigration to fabricate superconducting weak links. We show evidence that in Al a transition from thermally assisted phase slips (TAPS) to quantum phase slips may takes place when the effective cross section becomes smaller than ~150 nm2. In the regime dominated by quantum phase slips the nanowire loses completely its capacity to carry current without dissipation, even at the lowest possible temperature. We also discuss the origin of negative magnetoresistance at low magnetic fields in the bow-tie shaped constrictions. Strikingly, the detrimental effect caused by the repeated electromigration can be healed by simply inverting the current direction. These findings reveal perspectives of the proposed fabrication method for exploring various fascinating superconducting phenomena in atomic size constrictions.