Quantum Coherence with a Single Cooper Pair

A metallic electrode connected to electron reservoirs by tunnel junctions has a series of charge states corresponding to the number of excess electrons in the electrode. In contrast with the charge state of an atomic or molecular ion, the charge states of such an "island" involve a macroscopic number of conduction electrons of the island. Island charge states bear some resemblance with the photon number states of the cavity in cavity QED, the phase conjugate to the number of electrons being analogous to the phase of the field in the cavity. For a normal island, charge states decay irreversibly into charge states of lower energies. However, the ground state of a superconducting island connected to superconducting reservoirs can be a coherent superposition of charge states differing by two electrons (i.e. a Cooper pair). We describe an experiment in which this Josephson effect involving only one Cooper pair is measured.