Thermopower induced by a supercurrent in superconductor-normal-metal structures

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Apr 30;92(17):177004. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.177004. Epub 2004 Apr 30.

Abstract

We examine the thermopower Q of a mesoscopic normal-metal (N) wire in contact with superconducting (S) segments and show that even with electron-hole symmetry Q may become finite due to the presence of supercurrents. Moreover, we show how the dominant part of Q can be directly related to the equilibrium supercurrents in the structure. In general, a finite thermopower appears both between the N reservoirs and the superconductors and between the N reservoirs themselves. The latter, however, strongly depends on the geometrical symmetry of the structure.