868 research outputs found
Radiation comb generation with extended Josephson junctions
We propose the implementation of a Josephson radiation comb generator (JRCG)
based on an extended Josephson junction subject to a time dependent magnetic
field. The junction critical current shows known diffraction patterns and
determines the position of the critical nodes when it vanishes. When the
magnetic flux passes through one of such critical nodes, the superconducting
phase must undergo a -jump to minimize the Josephson energy.
Correspondingly a voltage pulse is generated at the extremes of the junction.
Under periodic driving this allows us to produce a comb-like voltage pulses
sequence. In the frequency domain it is possible to generate up to hundreds of
harmonics of the fundamental driving frequency, thus mimicking the frequency
comb used in optics and metrology. We discuss several implementations through a
rectangular, cylindrical and annular junction geometries, allowing us to
generate different radiation spectra and to produce an output power up to
~pW at ~GHz for a driving frequency of ~MHz.Comment: 4+ pages, 4 color figure
Properties of Mesoscopic Hybrid Superconducting Systems
In this paper we review several aspects of mesoscopic hybrid superconducting
systems. In particular we consider charge and heat transport properties in
hybrid superconducting-metal structures and the effect of charging energy in
superconducting nanostructures.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure
Photonic heat conduction in Josephson-coupled Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductors
We investigate the photon-mediated heat flow between two Josephson-coupled
Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductors. We demonstrate that in
standard low temperature experiments involving temperature-biased
superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), this radiative
contribution is negligible if compared to the direct galvanic one, but it
largely exceeds the heat exchanged between electrons and the lattice phonons.
The corresponding thermal conductance is found to be several orders of
magnitude smaller, for real experiments setup parameters, than the universal
quantum of thermal conductance, kappa_0(T)=pi k_B^2T/6hbar.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Ultra-low dissipation Josephson transistor
A superconductor-normal metal-superconductor (SNS) transistor based on
superconducting microcoolers is presented. The proposed 4-terminal device
consists of a long SNS Josephson junction whose N region is in addition
symmetrically connected to superconducting reservoirs through tunnel barriers
(I). Biasing the SINIS line allows to modify the quasiparticle temperature in
the weak link, thus controlling the Josephson current. We show that, in
suitable voltage and temperature regimes, large supercurrent enhancements can
be achieved with respect to equilibrium, due to electron ``cooling'' generated
by the control voltage. The extremely low power dissipation intrinsic to the
structure makes this device relevant for a number of electronic applications.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Applied Physics Letter
Nanoscale phase-engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator
Macroscopic quantum phase coherence has one of its pivotal expressions in the
Josephson effect [1], which manifests itself both in charge [2] and energy
transport [3-5]. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through
two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core
of coherent caloritronics [4-6], and is expected to be a key tool in a number
of nanoscience fields, including solid state cooling [7], thermal isolation [8,
9], radiation detection [7], quantum information [10, 11] and thermal logic
[12]. Here we show the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat
modulator [13] designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the
phase-coherent component of thermal currents. Our device provides
magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a
maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per
flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the
exact correspondence in the phase-engineering of charge and heat currents,
breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters
[14], heat pumps [15] and time-dependent electronic engines [16-19].Comment: 6+ pages, 4 color figure
Rectification of electronic heat current by a hybrid thermal diode
We report the realization of an ultra-efficient low-temperature hybrid heat
current rectifier, thermal counterpart of the well-known electric diode. Our
design is based on a tunnel junction between two different elements: a normal
metal and a superconducting island. Electronic heat current asymmetry in the
structure arises from large mismatch between the thermal properties of these
two. We demonstrate experimentally temperature differences exceeding mK
between the forward and reverse thermal bias configurations. Our device offers
a remarkably large heat rectification ratio up to and allows its
prompt implementation in true solid-state thermal nanocircuits and
general-purpose electronic applications requiring energy harvesting or thermal
management and isolation at the nanoscale.Comment: 8 pages, 6 color figure
InAs nanowire hot-electron Josephson transistor
At a superconductor (S)-normal metal (N) junction pairing correlations can
"leak-out" into the N region. This proximity effect [1, 2] modifies the system
transport properties and can lead to supercurrent flow in SNS junctions [3].
Recent experimental works showed the potential of semiconductor nanowires (NWs)
as building blocks for nanometre-scale devices [4-7], also in combination with
superconducting elements [8-12]. Here, we demonstrate an InAs NW Josephson
transistor where supercurrent is controlled by hot-quasiparticle injection from
normal-metal electrodes. Operational principle is based on the modification of
NW electron-energy distribution [13-20] that can yield reduced dissipation and
high-switching speed. We shall argue that exploitation of this principle with
heterostructured semiconductor NWs opens the way to a host of
out-of-equilibrium hybrid-nanodevice concepts [7, 21].Comment: 6 pages, 6 color figure
Superconducting spin filter
Consider two normal leads coupled to a superconductor; the first lead is
biased while the second one and the superconductor are grounded. In general, a
finite current is induced in the grounded lead 2; its magnitude
depends on the competition between processes of Andreev and normal
quasiparticle transmission from the lead 1 to the lead 2. It is known that in
the tunneling limit, when normal leads are weakly coupled to the
superconductor, , if and the system is in the
clean limit. In other words, Andreev and normal tunneling processes compensate
each-other. We consider the general case: the voltages are below the gap, the
system is either dirty or clean. It is shown that for general
configuration of the normal leads; if the first lead injects spin polarized
current then , but spin current in the lead-2 is finite. XISIN
structure, where X is a source of the spin polarized current could be applied
as a filter separating spin current from charge current. We do an analytical
progress calculating .Comment: 5 pages, references adde
Pendulum Mode Thermal Noise in Advanced Interferometers: A comparison of Fused Silica Fibers and Ribbons in the Presence of Surface Loss
The use of fused-silica ribbons as suspensions in gravitational wave
interferometers can result in significant improvements in pendulum mode thermal
noise. Surface loss sets a lower bound to the level of noise achievable, at
what level depends on the dissipation depth and other physical parameters. For
LIGO II, the high breaking strength of pristine fused silica filaments, the
correct choice of ribbon aspect ratio (to minimize thermoelastic damping), and
low dissipation depth combined with the other achievable parameters can reduce
the pendulum mode thermal noise in a ribbon suspension well below the radiation
pressure noise. Despite producing higher levels of pendulum mode thermal noise,
cylindrical fiber suspensions provide an acceptable alternative for LIGO II,
should unforeseen problems with ribbon suspensions arise.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters A (Dec. 14, 1999). Resubmitted to
Physics Letters A (Apr. 3, 2000) after internal (LSC) review process. PACS -
04.80.Nn, 95.55.Ym, 05.40.C
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