2,800 research outputs found
Supercurrent Spectroscopy of Andreev States
We measure the excitation spectrum of a superconducting atomic contact. In
addition to the usual continuum above the superconducting gap, the single
particle excitation spectrum contains discrete, spin-degenerate Andreev levels
inside the gap. Quasiparticle excitations are induced by a broadband on-chip
microwave source and detected by measuring changes in the supercurrent flowing
through the atomic contact. Since microwave photons excite quasiparticles in
pairs, two types of transitions are observed: Andreev transitions, which
consists of putting two quasiparticles in an Andreev level, and transitions to
odd states with a single quasiparticle in an Andreev level and the other one in
the continuum. In contrast to absorption spectroscopy, supercurrent
spectroscopy allows detection of long-lived odd states.Comment: typos correcte
Exciting Andreev pairs in a superconducting atomic contact
The Josephson effect describes the flow of supercurrent in a weak link, such
as a tunnel junction, nanowire, or molecule, between two superconductors. It is
the basis for a variety of circuits and devices, with applications ranging from
medicine to quantum information. Currently, experiments using Josephson
circuits that behave like artificial atoms are revolutionizing the way we probe
and exploit the laws of quantum physics. Microscopically, the supercurrent is
carried by Andreev pair states, which are localized at the weak link. These
states come in doublets and have energies inside the superconducting gap.
Existing Josephson circuits are based on properties of just the ground state of
each doublet and so far the excited states have not been directly detected.
Here we establish their existence through spectroscopic measurements of
superconducting atomic contacts. The spectra, which depend on the atomic
configuration and on the phase difference between the superconductors, are in
complete agreement with theory. Andreev doublets could be exploited to encode
information in novel types of superconducting qubits.Comment: Submitted to Natur
Theory of microwave spectroscopy of Andreev bound states with a Josephson junction
We present a microscopic theory for the current through a tunnel Josephson
junction coupled to a non-linear environment, which consists of an Andreev
two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. It models a recent
experiment [Bretheau, Girit, Pothier, Esteve, and Urbina, Nature (London) 499,
312 (2013)] on photon spectroscopy of Andreev bound states in a superconducting
atomic-size contact. We find the eigenenergies and eigenstates of the
environment and derive the current through the junction due to inelastic Cooper
pair tunneling. The current-voltage characteristic reveals the transitions
between the Andreev bound states, the excitation of the harmonic mode that
hybridizes with the Andreev bound states, as well as multi-photon processes.
The calculated spectra are in fair agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Evidence for long-lived quasiparticles trapped in superconducting point contacts
We have observed that the supercurrent across phase-biased, highly
transmitting atomic size contacts is strongly reduced within a broad phase
interval around {\pi}. We attribute this effect to quasiparticle trapping in
one of the discrete sub-gap Andreev bound states formed at the contact.
Trapping occurs essentially when the Andreev energy is smaller than half the
superconducting gap {\Delta}, a situation in which the lifetime of trapped
quasiparticles is found to exceed 100 \mus. The origin of this sharp energy
threshold is presently not understood.Comment: Article (5 pages) AND Supplemental material (14 pages). To be
published in Physical Review Letter
In-packet Bloom filters: Design and networking applications
The Bloom filter (BF) is a well-known space-efficient data structure that
answers set membership queries with some probability of false positives. In an
attempt to solve many of the limitations of current inter-networking
architectures, some recent proposals rely on including small BFs in packet
headers for routing, security, accountability or other purposes that move
application states into the packets themselves. In this paper, we consider the
design of such in-packet Bloom filters (iBF). Our main contributions are
exploring the design space and the evaluation of a series of extensions (1) to
increase the practicality and performance of iBFs, (2) to enable
false-negative-free element deletion, and (3) to provide security enhancements.
In addition to the theoretical estimates, extensive simulations of the multiple
design parameters and implementation alternatives validate the usefulness of
the extensions, providing for enhanced and novel iBF networking applications.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, preprint submitted to Elsevier COMNET Journa
Experimental evidence for the breakdown of a Hartree-Fock approach in a weakly interacting Bose gas
We study the formation of a quasi-condensate in a nearly one dimensional,
weakly interacting trapped atomic Bose gas. We show that a Hartree Fock
(mean-field) approach fails to explain the presence of the quasi-condensate in
the center of the cloud: the quasi-condensate appears through an
interaction-driven cross-over and not a saturation of the excited states.
Numerical calculations based on Bogoliubov theory give an estimate of the
cross-over density in agreement with experimental results.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Revisión sistemática del trilobite oryctocefálido Protoryctocephalus arcticus Geyer & Peel, 2011 del Cámbrico inferior (Piso 4) de Balang, China meridional
The oryctocephalid trilobites from the traditional ‘lower-middle Cambrian’ represent key tools for international correlation. The trilobite zones in South China around the Cambrian Series 2-Miaolingian are made using oryctocephalids. One of the trilobite zones suggested is based on Protoryctocephalus arcticus. Protoryctocephalus from the Balang area in South China was described as Protoryctocephalus wuxunensis, also from the Cambrian Series 2 of South China. However, Protoryctocephalus from Balang shows different morphological features such as different glabellar shape, presence of a transglabellar S1 and more segments in the trunk. These features match with Protoryctocephalus arcticus from the Cambrian Series 2 of Greenland.Los trilobites oryctocefálidos del tránsito ‘Cámbrico inferior-medio’ representan herramientas clave para la correlación internacional. Las zonas de trilobites en China meridional a través del tránsito Serie cámbrica 2-Miaolingiense se basan en este grupo fósil. La base de una de estas zonas de trilobites se sitúa con la aparición de Protoryctocephalus arcticus. El género Protoryctocephalus, procedente del área de Balang en China meridional, fue descrito originalmente como Protoryctocephalus wuxunensis, también de la serie cámbrica 2 de China meridional. Sin embargo, en Balang Protoryctocephalus muestra diferentes caracteres morfológicos, tales como la forma glabelar, la presencia de un surco transglabelar S1 y más segmentos en el tronco (tórax + pigidio). Estos caracteres cuadran mejor con Protoryctocephalus arcticus de la Serie cámbrica 2 of Groenlandia
Measurement of the current-phase relation of superconducting atomic contacts
We have probed the current-phase relation of an atomic contact placed with a
tunnel junction in a small superconducting loop. The measurements are in
quantitative agreement with the predictions of a resistively shunted SQUID
model in which the Josephson coupling of the contact is calculated using the
independently determined transmissions of its conduction channels.Comment: to be published in Physical Review Letter
Density of states in a superconductor carrying a supercurrent
We have measured the tunneling density of states (DOS) in a superconductor
carrying a supercurrent or exposed to an external magnetic field. The pair
correlations are weakened by the supercurrent, leading to a modification of the
DOS and to a reduction of the gap. As predicted by the theory of
superconductivity in diffusive metals, we find that this effect is similar to
that of an external magnetic field.Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letter
The Bright Side of Coulomb Blockade
We explore the photonic (bright) side of dynamical Coulomb blockade (DCB) by
measuring the radiation emitted by a dc voltage-biased Josephson junction
embedded in a microwave resonator. In this regime Cooper pair tunneling is
inelastic and associated to the transfer of an energy 2eV into the resonator
modes. We have measured simultaneously the Cooper pair current and the photon
emission rate at the resonance frequency of the resonator. Our results show two
regimes, in which each tunneling Cooper pair emits either one or two photons
into the resonator. The spectral properties of the emitted radiation are
accounted for by an extension to DCB theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures + 3 pages, 1 figure supplementary materia
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