70 research outputs found
Upper bound on the Andreev states induced second harmonic in the Josephson coupling of YBa2Cu3O7-δ/Nb junctions from experiment and numerical simulations
Theory predicts that d-wave superconductivity induces a significant second harmonic J2 in the Josephson current, as a result of zero-energy Andreev states ZES formed at the junction interface. Consequently, anomalies such as half-integer Shapiro steps and signatures of period doubling of the dc Josephson current versus magnetic field should be observed. We performed experiments on junctions between untwinned d-wave YBa2Cu3O7-δ and Nb and found no trace of such anomalies although clear evidence of Andreev states formation is provided. These findings do not lead to an observable J2. This result combined with extensive numerical simulations put an upper bound on the ZES-induced J2 of about 0.1% from the first harmonic in the Josephson current for tunneling into the 010 direction and of about 2% for tunneling close to the 110 direction. Our results suggest strong J2 suppression by diffusive scattering, which is possibly due to nanoscale interface roughness. This is important for proposed quantum-electronic device concepts based on the expectance of J2
Andreev bound states at a cuprate grain boundary junction: A lower bound for the upper critical field
We investigate in-plane quasiparticle tunneling across thin film grain
boundary junctions (GBJs) of the electron-doped cuprate
LaCeCuO in magnetic fields up to T, perpendicular to
the CuO layers. The differential conductance in the superconducting state
shows a zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) due to zero energy surface Andreev
bound states. With increasing temperature , the ZBCP vanishes at the
critical temperature K if B=0, and at K for B=16 T. As
the ZBCP is related to the macroscopic phase coherence of the superconducting
state, we argue that the disappearance of the ZBCP at a field
must occur below the upper critical field of the superconductor. We
find T which is at least a factor of 2.5 higher than
previous estimates of .Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Observation of Andreev bound states in bicrystal grain-boundary Josephson junctions of the electron doped superconductor LaCeCuO
We observe a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in the ab-plane quasiparticle
tunneling spectra of thin film grain-boundary Josephson junctions made of the
electron doped cuprate superconductor LaCeCuO. An applied magnetic field
reduces the spectral weight around zero energy and shifts it non-linearly to
higher energies consistent with a Doppler shift of the Andreev bound states
(ABS) energy. For all magnetic fields the ZBCP appears simultaneously with the
onset of superconductivity. These observations strongly suggest that the ZBCP
results from the formation of ABS at the junction interfaces, and,
consequently, that there is a sign change in the symmetry of the
superconducting order parameter of this compound consistent with a d-wave
symmetry.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; December 2004, accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
Observation of Andreev bound states in YBaCuO/Au/Nb ramp-type Josephson junctions
We report on Josephson and quasiparticle tunneling in YBa2Cu3O7-x(YBCO)/Au/Nb
ramp junctions of several geometries. Macroscopically, tunneling occurs in the
ab-plane of YBCO either in the (100) and (010) direction, or in the (110)
direction. These junctions have a stable and macroscopically well defined
geometry. This allows systematic investigations of both quasiparticle and
Josephson tunneling over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. With
Nb superconducting, its gap appears in the quasiparticle conductance spectra as
Nb coherence peaks and a dip at the center of a broadened zero-bias conductance
peak (ZBCP). As we increase the temperature or an applied magnetic field both
the Nb coherence peaks and the dip get suppressed and the ZBCP fully develops,
while states are conserved. With Nb in the normal state the ZBCP is observed up
to about 77 K and is almost unaffected by an increasing field up to 7 T. The
measurements are consistent with a convolution of density of states with
broadened Andreev bound states formed at the YBCO/Au/Nb junction interfaces.
Since junctions with different geometries are fabricated on the same substrate
under the same conditions one expects to extract reliable tunneling information
that is crystallographic direction sensitive. In high contrast to Josephson
tunneling, however, the quasiparticle conductance spectra are crystallographic
orientation insensitive: independent whether the tunneling occurs in the (100)
or (110) directions, a pronounced ZBCP is always observed, consistent with
microscopic roughness of the junction interfaces. Qualitatively, all these
particularities regarding quasiparticle spectra hold regardless whether the
YBCO thin film is twinned or untwinned.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
Resonance phenomena in asymmetric superconducting quantum interference devices
Theory of self induced resonances in asymmetric two-junction interferometer
device is presented. In real devices it is impossible to have an ideal
interferometer free of imperfections. Thus, we extended previous theoretical
approaches introducing a model which contains several asymmetries: Josephson
current , capacitances and dissipation presented in an
equivalent circuit. Moreover, non conventional symmetry of the order parameter
in high temperature superconducting quantum interference devices forced us to
include phase asymmetries. Therefore, the model has been extended to the case
of -shift interferometers, where a phase shift is present in one of the
junctions.Comment: accepted to PRB, low quality figure
DC superconducting quantum interference devices fabricated using bicrystal grain boundary junctions in Co-doped BaFe2As2 epitaxial films
DC superconducting quantum interference devices (dc-SQUIDs) were fabricated
in Co-doped BaFe2As2 epitaxial films on (La, Sr)(Al, Ta)O3 bicrystal substrates
with 30deg misorientation angles. The 18 x 8 micro-meter^2 SQUID loop with an
estimated inductance of 13 pH contained two 3 micro-meter wide grain boundary
junctions. The voltage-flux characteristics clearly exhibited periodic
modulations with deltaV = 1.4 micro-volt at 14 K, while the intrinsic flux
noise of dc-SQUIDs was 7.8 x 10^-5 fai0/Hz^1/2 above 20 Hz. The rather high
flux noise is mainly attributed to the small voltage modulation depth which
results from the superconductor-normal metal-superconductor junction nature of
the bicrystal grain boundary
Improving high-T_c dc-SQUID performance by junction asymmetry
We study noise and noise energy of a high-T dc SQUID fabricated on a
high- substrate whose conduction properties are given by
transmission line physics. We show that transmission line resonances greatly
enhance the noise. Remarkably, resistance asymmetry enhances these resonances
even more. However, as the transfer function scales the same way, the noise
energy is reduced by asymmetry greatly enhancing the flexibility and
performance of the SQUID.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. v2: published versio
Dynamical effects of an unconventional current-phase relation in YBCO dc-SQUIDs
The predominant d-wave pairing symmetry in high temperature superconductors
allows for a variety of current-phase relations in Josephson junctions, which
is to a certain degree fabrication controlled. In this letter we report on
direct experimental observations of the effects of a non-sinusoidal
current-phase dependence in YBCO dc-SQUIDs, which agree with the theoretical
description of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 ps figures, to apprear in Phys. Rev. Let
A Numerical Treatment of the Rf SQUID: II. Noise Temperature
We investigate rf SQUIDs (Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices),
coupled to a resonant input circuit, a readout tank circuit and a preamplifier,
by numerically solving the corresponding Langevin equations and optimizing
model parameters with respect to noise temperature. We also give approximate
analytic solutions for the noise temperature, which we reduce to parameters of
the SQUID and the tank circuit in the absence of the input circuit. The
analytic solutions agree with numerical simulations of the full circuit to
within 10%, and are similar to expressions used to calculate the noise
temperature of dc SQUIDs. The best device performance is obtained when
\beta_L'\equiv 2\pi L I_0\Phi_0 is 0.6 - 0.8; L is the SQUID inductance, I_0
the junction critical current and \Phi_0 the flux quantum. For a tuned input
circuit we find an optimal noise temperature T_{N,opt}\approx 3Tf/f_c, where T,
f and f_c denote temperature, signal frequency and junction characteristic
frequency, respectively. This value is only a factor of 2 larger than the
optimal noise temperatures obtained by approximate analytic theories carried
out previously in the limit \beta_L'<<1. We study the dependence of the noise
temperature on various model parameters, and give examples using realistic
device parameters of the extent to which the intrinsic noise temperature can be
realized experimentally.Comment: submitted to J. Low Temp. Phy
DEVELOPMENT OF THIN FILMS FOR SUPERCONDUCTING RF CAVITIES
Abstract Superconducting coatings for superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities is an intensively developing field that should ultimately lead to acceleration gradients better than those obtained by bulk Nb RF cavities. ASTeC has built and developed experimental systems for superconducting thin-film deposition, surface analysis and measurement of Residual Resistivity Ratio (RRR). Nb thin-films were deposited by magnetron sputtering in DC or pulsed DC mode (100 to 350 kHz with 50% duty cycle) with powers ranging from 100 to 600 W at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 800 °C on Si (100) substrates. The first results gave RRR in the range from 2 to 22 with a critical temperature T c 9.5 K. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) and DC SQUID magnetometry revealed significant correlations between the film structure, morphology and superconducting properties
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