79 research outputs found
Observation of a superconducting glass state in granular superconducting diamond
The magnetic field dependence of the superconductivity in nanocrystalline
boron doped diamond thin films is reported. Evidence of a glass state in the
phase diagram is presented, as demonstrated by electrical resistance and
magnetic relaxation measurements. The position of the phase boundary in the H-T
plane is determined from resistance data by detailed fitting to
zero-dimensional fluctuation conductivity theory. This allows determination of
the boundary between resistive and non-resistive behavior to be made with
greater precision than the standard ad hoc onset/midpoint/offset criterion
Fluctuation spectroscopy as a probe of granular superconducting diamond films
We present resistance versus temperature data for a series of boron-doped
nanocrystalline diamond films whose grain size is varied by changing the film
thickness. Upon extracting the fluctuation conductivity near to the critical
temperature we observe three distinct scaling regions -- 3D intragrain,
quasi-0D, and 3D intergrain -- in confirmation of the prediction of Lerner,
Varlamov and Vinokur. The location of the dimensional crossovers between these
scaling regions allows us to determine the tunnelling energy and the Thouless
energy for each film. This is a demonstration of the use of \emph{fluctuation
spectroscopy} to determine the properties of a superconducting granular system
Superconducting Diamond on Silicon Nitride for Device Applications
Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) grown nanocrystalline diamond is an
attractive material for the fabrication of devices. For some device
architectures, optimisation of its growth on silicon nitride is essential.
Here, the effects of three pre-growth surface treatments, often employed as
cleaning methods of silicon nitride, were investigated. Such treatments provide
control over the surface charge of the substrate through modification of the
surface functionality, allowing for the optimisation of electrostatic diamond
seeding densities. Zeta potential measurements and X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyse the silicon nitride surface following
each treatment. Exposing silicon nitride to an oxygen plasma offered optimal
surface conditions for the electrostatic self-assembly of a hydrogen-terminated
diamond nanoparticle monolayer. The subsequent growth of boron-doped
nanocrystalline diamond thin films on modified silicon nitride substrates under
CVD conditions produced coalesced films for oxygen plasma and solvent
treatments, whilst pin-holing of the diamond film was observed following RCA-1
treatment. The sharpest superconducting transition was observed for diamond
grown on oxygen plasma treated silicon nitride, demonstrating it to be of the
least structural disorder. Modifications to the substrate surface optimise the
seeding and growth processes for the fabrication of diamond on silicon nitride
devices
Design and development of a low temperature, inductance based high frequency ac susceptometer
We report on the development of an induction based low temperature high
frequency ac susceptometer capable of measuring at frequencies up to 3.5 MHz
and at temperatures between 2 K and 300 K. Careful balancing of the detection
coils and calibration have allowed a sample magnetic moment resolution of
at 1 MHz. We will discuss the design and
characterization of the susceptometer, and explain the calibration process. We
also include some example measurements on the spin ice material CdErS
and iron oxide based nanoparticles to illustrate functionality
A continuous dry 300 mK cooler for THz sensing applications
We describe and demonstrate the automated operation of a novel cryostat design that is capable of maintaining an unloaded base temperature of less than 300 mK continuously, without the need to recycle the gases within the final cold head, as is the case for conventional single shot sorption pumped 3He cooling systems. This closed dry system uses only 5 l of 3He gas, making this an economical alternative to traditional systems where a long hold time is required. During testing, a temperature of 365 mK was maintained with a constant 20 μW load, simulating the cooling requirement of a far infrared camera
Superconducting boron doped nanocrystalline diamond microwave coplanar resonator
A superconducting boron doped nanocrystalline diamond (B-NCD) coplanar
waveguide resonator (CPR) is presented for kinetic inductance () and
penetration depth () measurements at microwave frequencies of
0.4 to 1.2 GHz and at temperatures below 3 K. Using a simplified effective
medium CPR approach, this work demonstrates that thin granular B-NCD films
( 500 nm) on Si have a large penetration depth
( to 4.4 m), and therefore an associated high
kinetic inductance ( 670 to 690 pH/). These
values are much larger than those typically obtained for films on single
crystal diamond which is likely due to the significant granularity of the
nanocrystalline films. Based on the measured Q factors of the structure, the
calculated surface resistance in this frequency range is found to be as low as
2 to 4 at K, demonstrating the potential for
granular B-NCD for high quality factor superconducting microwave resonators and
highly sensitive kinetic inductance detectors.Comment: First draf
Evaluating the coefficient of thermal expansion of additive manufactured AlSi10Mg using microwave techniques
In this paper we have used laser powder bed fusion (PBF) to manufacture and characterize metal microwave components. Here we focus on a 2.5 GHz microwave cavity resonator, manufactured by PBF from the alloy AlSi10Mg. Of particular interest is its thermal expansion coefficient, especially since many microwave applications for PBF produced components will be in satellite systems where extreme ranges of temperature are experienced. We exploit the inherent resonant frequency dependence on cavity geometry, using a number of TM cavity modes, to determine the thermal expansion coefficient over the temperature range 6–450 K. Our results compare well with literature values and show that the material under test exhibits lower thermal expansion when compared with a bulk aluminium alloy alternative (6063)
Evaluating the coefficient of thermal expansion of additive manufactured AlSi10Mg using microwave techniques
In this paper we have used laser powder bed fusion (PBF) to manufacture and characterize metal microwave components. Here we focus on a 2.5 GHz microwave cavity resonator, manufactured by PBF from the alloy AlSi10Mg. Of particular interest is its thermal expansion coefficient, especially since many microwave applications for PBF produced components will be in satellite systems where extreme ranges of temperature are experienced. We exploit the inherent resonant frequency dependence on cavity geometry, using a number of TM cavity modes, to determine the thermal expansion coefficient over the temperature range 6–450 K. Our results compare well with literature values and show that the material under test exhibits lower thermal expansion when compared with a bulk aluminium alloy alternative (6063)
Fluctuation spectroscopy in granular superconductors with application to boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond
We perform a detailed calculation of the various contributions to the fluctuation conductivity of a granular metal close to its superconducting transition. We find three distinct regions of power law behavior in reduced temperature,
η
=
(
T
−
T
c
)
/
T
c
, with crossovers at
Γ
/
T
c
and
E
Th
/
T
c
, where
Γ
is the electron tunneling rate, and
E
Th
is the Thouless energy of a grain. The calculation includes both intergrain and intragrain degrees of freedom. This complete theory of the fluctuation region in granular superconductors is then compared to experimental results from boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond, using the assumption of a constant phase breaking rate
Ï„
−
1
Ï•
. We find a semiquantitative agreement between the theoretical and experimental results only in the case of large phase breaking. We argue that there may be a phase breaking mechanism in granular metals worthy of further experimental and theoretical investigation
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