  The effect of electrostatic gating on metallic elemental superconductors was
recently demonstrated in terms of modulation of the switching current and
control of the current phase relation in superconducting quantum
interferometers. The latter suggests the existence of a direct connection
between the macroscopic quantum phase in a superconductor and the applied gate
voltage. The measurement of the switching current cumulative probability
distributions (SCCPD) is a convenient and powerful tool to analyze such
relation. In particular, the comparison between the conventional
Kurkijarvi-Fulton-Dunkleberger model and the gate-driven distributions give
useful insights into the microscopic origin of the gating effect. In this
review, we summarize the main results obtained in the analysis of the phase
slip events in elemental gated superconducting weak-links in a wide range of
temperatures between 20 mK and 3.5 K. Such a large temperature range
demonstrates both that the gating effect is robust as the temperature
increases, and that fluctuations induced by the electric field are not
negligible in a wide temperature range.
