145 research outputs found
High-Quality Planar high-Tc Josephson Junctions
Reproducible high-Tc Josephson junctions have been made in a rather simple
two-step process using ion irradiation. A microbridge (1 to 5 ?m wide) is
firstly designed by ion irradiating a c-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7-? film through
a gold mask such as the non-protected part becomes insulating. A lower Tc part
is then defined within the bridge by irradiating with a much lower fluence
through a narrow slit (20 nm) opened in a standard electronic photoresist.
These planar junctions, whose settings can be finely tuned, exhibit
reproducible and nearly ideal Josephson characteristics. This process can be
used to produce complex Josephson circuits.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Applied Physics Letter
Interaction-driven quantum phase transition of a single magnetic impurity in Fe(Se,Te)
Understanding the interplay between individual magnetic impurities and
superconductivity is crucial for bottom-up construction of novel phases of
matter. For decades, the description by Yu, Shiba and Rusinov (YSR) of single
spins in a superconductor and its extension to include quantum effects has
proven highly successful: the pair-breaking potential of the spin generates
sub-gap electron- and hole excitations that are energetically equidistant from
zero. By tuning the energy of the sub-gap states through zero, the impurity
screening by the superconductor makes the ground state gain or lose an
electron, signalling a parity breaking quantum phase transition. Here we show
that in multi-orbital impurities, correlations between the in-gap states can
conversely lead to a quantum phase transition where more than one electron
simultaneously leave the impurity without significant effect of the screening
by the superconductor, while the parity may remain unchanged. This finding
implies that the YSR treatment is not always valid, and that intra-atomic
interactions, particularly Hund's coupling that favours high spin
configurations, are an essential ingredient for understanding the sub-gap
states. The interaction-driven quantum phase transition should be taken into
account for impurity-based band-structure engineering, and may provide a
fruitful basis in the search for novel physics.Comment: Main text and supplementar
Energy Gap from Tunneling and Metallic Sharvin Contacts onto MgB2: Evidence for a Weakened Surface Layer
Point-contact tunnel junctions using a Au tip on sintered MgB2 pellets reveal
a sharp superconducting energy gap that is confirmed by subsequent metallic
Sharvin contacts made on the same sample. The peak in the tunneling conductance
and the Sharvin contact conductance follow the BCS form, but the gap values of
4.3 meV are less than the weak-coupling BCS value of 5.9 meV for the bulk Tc of
39 K. The low value of Delta compared to the BCS value for the bulk Tc is
possibly due to chemical reactions at the surface.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Interplay between single-particle and two-particle tunneling in normal metal-d-wave superconductor junctions probed by shot noise
We discuss how life-time broadening of quasiparticle states influences
single- and two-particle current transport through zero-energy states at normal
metal/d-wave superconductor junctions. We distinguish between intrinsic
broadening (imaginary part of the energy), which couples the bound
states with the superconducting reservoir, and broadening due to leakage
through the junction barrier, which couples the bound states with the normal
metal reservoir. We show that shot noise is highly sensitive to the mechanism
of broadening, while the conductance is not. In the limit of small but finite
intrinsic broadening, compared to the junction transparency ,
, the low-voltage shot noise at zero frequency and zero
temperature becomes proportional to the magnitude of intrinsic
broadening ( is the maximum d-wave gap).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; presented at the SDP2001 conference in Toky
High kinetic inductance microwave resonators made by He-Beam assisted deposition of tungsten nanowires
We evaluate the performance of hybrid microwave resonators made by combining sputtered Nb thin films with Tungsten nanowires grown with a He-beam induced deposition technique. Depending on growth conditions, the nanowires have a typical width w [35 - 75] nm and thickness t [5 - 40] nm. We observe a high normal state resistance R [65 - 150] Ω / which together with a critical temperature T c [4 - 6] K ensures a high kinetic inductance making the resonator strongly nonlinear. Both lumped and coplanar waveguide resonators were fabricated and measured at low temperature exhibiting internal quality factors up to 3990 at 4.5 GHz in the few photon regime. Analyzing the wire length, temperature, and microwave power dependence, we extracted a kinetic inductance for the W nanowire of L K 15 pH / which is 250 times higher than the geometrical inductance, and a Kerr non-linearity as high as K W, He / 2 π = 200 ± 120 Hz / photon at 4.5 GHz. The nanowires made with the helium focused ion beam are thus versatile objects to engineer compact, high impedance, superconducting environments with a mask and resist free direct write process
Evidence of a d to s-wave pairing symmetry transition in the electron-doped cuprate superconductor PrCeCuO
We present point contact spectroscopy (PCS) data for junctions between a
normal metal and the electron doped cuprate superconductor
PrCeCuO (PCCO). For the underdoped compositions of this cuprate
() we observe a peak in the conductance-voltage characteristics of
the point contact junctions. The shape and magnitude of this peak suggests the
presence of Andreev bound states at the surface of underdoped PCCO which is
evidence for a d-wave pairing symmetry. For overdoped PCCO () the
PCS data does not show any evidence of Andreev bound states at the surface
suggesting an s-wave pairing symmetry.Comment: 4 pages Latex, 4 eps figures included. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Critical currents in Josephson junctions, with unconventional pairing symmetry: versus
Phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory is used to calculate the possible
spontaneous vortex states that may exist at corner junctions of
-wave, (where or ) and s-wave superconductors.
We study the magnetic flux and the critical current modulation with the
junction orientation angle , the magnitude of the order parameter, and
the magnetic field . It is seen that the critical current versus the
magnetic flux relation is symmetric / asymmetric for when
the orientation is exactly such that the lobes of the dominant
-wave order parameter points towards the two junctions, which are
at right angles for the corner junction. The conclusion is that a measurement
of the relation may distinguish which symmetry ( or
) the order parameter has.Comment: 11 pages with 11 figures, Changed conten
Future Precision Neutrino Oscillation Experiments and Theoretical Implications
Future neutrino oscillation experiments will lead to precision measurements
of neutrino mass splittings and mixings. The flavour structure of the lepton
sector will therefore at some point become better known than that of the quark
sector. This article discusses the potential of future oscillation experiments
on the basis of detailed simulations with an emphasis on experiments which can
be done in about ten years. In addition, some theoretical implications for
neutrino mass models will be briefly discussed.Comment: Talk given at Nobel Symposium 2004: Neutrino Physics, Haga Slott,
Enkoping, Sweden, 19-24 Aug 200
Proximity effect and strong coupling superconductivity in nanostructures built with an STM
We present high resolution tunneling spectroscopy data at very low
temperatures on superconducting nanostructures of lead built with an STM. By
applying magnetic fields, superconductivity is restricted to length scales of
the order of the coherence length. We measure the tunneling conductance and
analyze the phonon structure and the low energy DOS. We demonstrate the
influence of the geometry of the system on the magnetic field dependence of the
tunneling density of states, which is gapless in a large range of fields. The
behavior of the features in the tunneling conductance associated to phonon
modes are explained within current models.Comment: 4 figures, 4 page
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