212 research outputs found
Magnetic nanoparticles as efficient bulk pinning centers in type-II superconductors
Enhancement of flux pinning by magnetic nanoparticles embedded into the bulk
of type-2 superconductor is studied both theoretically and experimentally.
Magnetic part of the pinning force associated with the interaction between a
spherical magnetic inclusion and an Abrikosov vortex was calculated in the
London approximation. Calculations are supported by the experimental results
obtained on sonochemically modified MgB2 superconductor with embedded magnetic
Fe2O3 nanoparticles and compared to MgB2 with nonmagnetic Mo2O5 pinning centers
of similar concentration and particle size distribution. It is shown that
ferromagnetic nanoparticles result in a considerable enhancement of vortex
pinning in large-kappa type-2 superconductors.Comment: PDF, 14 page
Identifying single electron charge sensor events using wavelet edge detection
The operation of solid-state qubits often relies on single-shot readout using
a nanoelectronic charge sensor, and the detection of events in a noisy sensor
signal is crucial for high fidelity readout of such qubits. The most common
detection scheme, comparing the signal to a threshold value, is accurate at low
noise levels but is not robust to low-frequency noise and signal drift. We
describe an alternative method for identifying charge sensor events using
wavelet edge detection. The technique is convenient to use and we show that,
with realistic signals and a single tunable parameter, wavelet detection can
outperform thresholding and is significantly more tolerant to 1/f and
low-frequency noise.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Nanoengineered magnetic-field-induced superconductivity
The perpendicular critical fields of a superconducting film have been
strongly enhanced by using a nanoengineered lattice of magnetic dots (dipoles)
on top of the film. Magnetic-field-induced superconductivity is observed in
these hybrid superconductor / ferromagnet systems due to the compensation of
the applied field between the dots by the stray field of the dipole array. By
switching between different magnetic states of the nanoengineered field
compensator, the critical parameters of the superconductor can be effectively
controlled.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Influence of randomly distributed magnetic nanoparticles on surface superconductivity in Nb films
We report on combined resistance and magnetic measurements in a hybrid
structure (HS) of randomly distributed anisotropic CoPt magnetic nanoparticles
(MN) embedded in a 160 nm Nb thick film. Our resistance measurements exhibited
a sharp increase at the magnetically determined bulk upper-critical fields
Hc2(T). Above these points the resistance curves are rounded, attaining the
normal state value at much higher fields identified as the surface
superconductivity fields Hc3(T). When plotted in reduced temperature units, the
characteristic field lines Hc3(T) of the HS and of a pure Nb film, prepared at
exactly the same conditions, coincide for H10 kOe
they strongly segregate. Interestingly, the characteristic value H=10 kOe is
equal to the saturation field of the MN. The behavior mentioned above is
observed only for the case where the field is normal to the HS, while is absent
when the field is parallel to the film. Our experimental results suggest that
the observed enhancement of surface superconductivity field Hc3(T) is possibly
due to the not uniform local reduction of the external magnetic field by the
dipolar fields of the MN.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev.
Tunable spin-selective loading of a silicon spin qubit
The remarkable properties of silicon have made it the central material for
the fabrication of current microelectronic devices. Silicon's fundamental
properties also make it an attractive option for the development of devices for
spintronics and quantum information processing. The ability to manipulate and
measure spins of single electrons is crucial for these applications. Here we
report the manipulation and measurement of a single spin in a quantum dot
fabricated in a silicon/silicon-germanium heterostructure. We demonstrate that
the rate of loading of electrons into the device can be tuned over an order of
magnitude using a gate voltage, that the spin state of the loaded electron
depends systematically on the loading voltage level, and that this tunability
arises because electron spins can be loaded through excited orbital states of
the quantum dot. The longitudinal spin relaxation time T1 is measured using
single-shot pulsed techniques and found to be ~3 seconds at a field of 1.85
Tesla. The demonstration of single spin measurement as well as a long spin
relaxation time and tunability of the loading are all favorable properties for
spintronics and quantum information processing applications.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Supplemental Informatio
Magnetic Pinning of Vortices in a Superconducting Film: The (anti)vortex-magnetic dipole interaction energy in the London approximation
The interaction between a superconducting vortex or antivortex in a
superconducting film and a magnetic dipole with in- or out-of-plane
magnetization is investigated within the London approximation. The dependence
of the interaction energy on the dipole-vortex distance and the film thickness
is studied and analytical results are obtained in limiting cases. We show how
the short range interaction with the magnetic dipole makes the co-existence of
vortices and antivortices possible. Different configurations with vortices and
antivortices are investigated.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Shapiro steps in a superconducting film with an antidot lattice
Shapiro voltage steps at voltages V_n=nV_0 (n integer) have been observed in
the voltage-current characteristics of a superconducting film with a square
lattice of perforating microholes (antidots)in the presence of radiofrequent
radiation. These equidistant steps appear at the second matching field H_2 when
the flow of the interstitial vortex lattice in the periodic potential created
by the antidots and the vortices trapped by them, is in phase with the applied
rf frequency. Therefore, the observation of Shapiro steps clearly reveals the
presence of mobile intersitial vortices in superconducting films with regular
pinning arrays. The interstitial vortices, moved by the driving current,
coexist with immobile vortices strongly pinned at the antidots.Comment: 6 pages text, 3 EPS figures, RevTeX, accepted for publication in PRB
Rapid Communication
Little-Parks effect and multiquanta vortices in a hybrid superconductor--ferromagnet system
Within the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory we investigate the phase
diagram of a thin superconducting film with ferromagnetic nanoparticles. We
study the oscillatory dependence of the critical temperature on an external
magnetic field similar to the Little-Parks effect and formation of multiquantum
vortex structures. The structure of a superconducting state is studied both
analytically and numerically.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Mat
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