Carbon nanotube Josephson junctions with Nb contacts

We report on the preparation of carbon nanotube Josephson junctions using superconducting electrodes made of niobium. Gate-controllable supercurrents with values of up to 30 nA are induced by the proximity effect. The IV curves are hysteretic at low temperature and the corresponding switching histograms have a width of 0.5% -2%. An on-chip resistive environment integrated in the sample layout is used to increase the switching current. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.