18,559 research outputs found
Towards understanding two-level-systems in amorphous solids -- Insights from quantum circuits
Amorphous solids show surprisingly universal behaviour at low temperatures.
The prevailing wisdom is that this can be explained by the existence of
two-state defects within the material. The so-called standard tunneling model
has become the established framework to explain these results, yet it still
leaves the central question essentially unanswered -- what are these two-level
defects? This question has recently taken on a new urgency with the rise of
superconducting circuits in quantum computing, circuit quantum electrodynamics,
magnetometry, electrometry and metrology. Superconducting circuits made from
aluminium or niobium are fundamentally limited by losses due to two-level
defects within the amorphous oxide layers encasing them. On the other hand,
these circuits also provide a novel and effective method for studying the very
defects which limit their operation. We can now go beyond ensemble measurements
and probe individual defects -- observing the quantum nature of their dynamics
and studying their formation, their behaviour as a function of applied field,
strain, temperature and other properties. This article reviews the plethora of
recent experimental results in this area and discusses the various theoretical
models which have been used to describe the observations. In doing so, it
summarises the current approaches to solving this fundamentally important
problem in solid-state physics.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Vortex pinning and flux flow microwave studies of coated conductors
Demanding microwave applications in a magnetic field require the material
optimization not only in zero-field but, more important, in the in-field flux
motion dominated regime. However, the effect of artificial pinning centers
(APC) remains unclear at high frequency. Moreover, in coated conductors the
evaluation of the high frequency material properties is difficult due to the
complicated electromagnetic problem of a thin superconducting film on a
buffered metal substrate. In this paper we present an experimental study at 48
GHz of 150-200 nm YBaCuO coated conductors, with and without
APCs, on buffered Ni-5at%W tapes. By properly addressing the electromagnetic
problem of the extraction of the superconductor parameters from the measured
overall surface impedance , we are able to extract and to comment on the
London penetration depth, the flux flow resistivity and the pinning constant,
highlighting the effect of artificial pinning centers in these samples.Comment: 5 pages, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., accepted for publication
(2019
Topological Photonics
Topological photonics is a rapidly emerging field of research in which
geometrical and topological ideas are exploited to design and control the
behavior of light. Drawing inspiration from the discovery of the quantum Hall
effects and topological insulators in condensed matter, recent advances have
shown how to engineer analogous effects also for photons, leading to remarkable
phenomena such as the robust unidirectional propagation of light, which hold
great promise for applications. Thanks to the flexibility and diversity of
photonics systems, this field is also opening up new opportunities to realize
exotic topological models and to probe and exploit topological effects in new
ways. This article reviews experimental and theoretical developments in
topological photonics across a wide range of experimental platforms, including
photonic crystals, waveguides, metamaterials, cavities, optomechanics, silicon
photonics, and circuit QED. A discussion of how changing the dimensionality and
symmetries of photonics systems has allowed for the realization of different
topological phases is offered, and progress in understanding the interplay of
topology with non-Hermitian effects, such as dissipation, is reviewed. As an
exciting perspective, topological photonics can be combined with optical
nonlinearities, leading toward new collective phenomena and novel strongly
correlated states of light, such as an analog of the fractional quantum Hall
effect.Comment: 87 pages, 30 figures, published versio
A Sharp Peak of the Zero-Temperature Penetration Depth at Optimal Composition in BaFe2(As1-xPx)2
In a superconductor, the ratio of the carrier density, , to their
effective mass, , is a fundamental property directly reflecting the length
scale of the superfluid flow, the London penetration depth, . In two
dimensional systems, this ratio () determines the
effective Fermi temperature, . We report a sharp peak in the
-dependence of at zero temperature in clean samples of
BaFe(AsP) at the optimum composition , where the
superconducting transition temperature reaches a maximum of 30\,K. This
structure may arise from quantum fluctuations associated with a quantum
critical point (QCP). The ratio of at is enhanced,
implying a possible crossover towards the Bose-Einstein condensate limit driven
by quantum criticality.Comment: Main text (5 pages, 4 figures) + Supplementary Materials (5 pages, 5
figures). Published on June 22, 201
Advanced radar absorbing ceramic-based materials for multifunctional applications in space environment
In this review, some results of the experimental activity carried out by the authors on advanced composite materials for space applications are reported. Composites are widely employed in the aerospace industry thanks to their lightweight and advanced thermo-mechanical and electrical properties. A critical issue to tackle using engineered materials for space activities is providing two or more specific functionalities by means of single items/components. In this scenario, carbon-based composites are believed to be ideal candidates for the forthcoming development of aerospace research and space missions, since a widespread variety of multi-functional structures are allowed by employing these materials. The research results described here suggest that hybrid ceramic/polymeric structures could be employed as spacecraft-specific subsystems in order to ensure extreme temperature withstanding and electromagnetic shielding behavior simultaneously. The morphological and thermo-mechanical analysis of carbon/carbon (C/C) three-dimensional (3D) shell prototypes is reported; then, the microwave characterization of multilayered carbon-filled micro-/nano-composite panels is described. Finally, the possibility of combining the C/C bulk with a carbon-reinforced skin in a synergic arrangement is discussed, with the aid of numerical and experimental analyses
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