328 research outputs found
Energy resolution of terahertz single-photon-sensitive bolometric detectors
We report measurements of the energy resolution of ultra-sensitive
superconducting bolometric detectors. The device is a superconducting titanium
nanobridge with niobium contacts. A fast microwave pulse is used to simulate a
single higher-frequency photon, where the absorbed energy of the pulse is equal
to the photon energy. This technique allows precise calibration of the input
coupling and avoids problems with unwanted background photons. Present devices
have an intrinsic full-width at half-maximum energy resolution of approximately
23 terahertz, near the predicted value due to intrinsic thermal fluctuation
noise.Comment: 11 pages (double-spaced), 5 figures; minor revision
Microwave-Induced Dephasing in One-Dimensional Metal Wires
We report on the effect of monochromatic microwave (MW) radiation on the weak
localization corrections to the conductivity of quasi-one-dimensional (1D)
silver wires. Due to the improved electron cooling in the wires, the MW-induced
dephasing was observed without a concomitant overheating of electrons over wide
ranges of the MW power and frequency . The observed dependences of
the conductivity and MW-induced dephasing rate on and are in
agreement with the theory by Altshuler, Aronov, and Khmelnitsky \cite{Alt81}.
Our results suggest that in the low-temperature experiments with 1D wires,
saturation of the temperature dependence of the dephasing time can be caused by
an MW electromagnetic noise with a sub-pW power.Comment: 4 pages with 4 figures, paper revised, accepted by Phys Rev Let
Josephson effects in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates
We propose an experiment that would demonstrate the ``dc'' and ``ac''
Josephson effects in two weakly linked Bose-Einstein condensates. We consider a
time-dependent barrier, moving adiabatically across the trapping potential. The
phase dynamics are governed by a ``driven-pendulum'' equation, as in
current-driven superconducting Josephson junctions. At a critical velocity of
the barrier (proportional to the critical tunneling current), there is a sharp
transition between the ``dc'' and ``ac'' regimes. The signature is a sudden
jump of a large fraction of the relative condensate population. Analytical
predictions are compared with a full numerical solution of the time dependent
Gross-Pitaevskii equation, in an experimentally realistic situation.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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