Current–voltage characteristics of Pb and Sn granular superconducting nanowires

Arrays of granular superconducting Pb and Sn nanowires (40–55 nm in diameter and 22 or 50 μm long) have been prepared by electrodeposition in nanoporous membranes. A simple technique has been developed to perform electrical transport measurement on a single nanowire. By sweeping the dc current inside the nanowire, we observed the formation of phase-slip-centers far below the critical temperature. In contrast, in voltage-driven experiments, an interesting S-shaped behavior has been observed in the nucleation region of these phase-slip-centers.