205 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
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
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
Superconducting atomic contacts inductively coupled to a microwave resonator
We describe and characterize a microwave setup to probe the Andreev levels of
a superconducting atomic contact. The contact is part of a superconducting loop
inductively coupled to a superconducting coplanar resonator. By monitoring the
resonator reflection coefficient close to its resonance frequency as a function
of both flux through the loop and frequency of a second tone we perform
spectroscopy of the transition between two Andreev levels of highly
transmitting channels of the contact. The results indicate how to perform
coherent manipulation of these states.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, to appear in special issue on break-junctions
in JOPC
Dynamics of quasiparticle trapping in Andreev levels
We present a theory describing the trapping and untrapping of quasiparticles
in the Andreev bound level of a single-channel weak link between two
superconductors. We calculate the rates of the transitions between even and odd
occupations of the Andreev level induced by absorption and emission of both
photons and phonons. We apply the theory to a recent experiment [Phys. Rev.
Lett. 106, 257003 (2011)] in which the dynamics of the trapping of
quasiparticles in the Andreev levels of superconducting atomic contacts coupled
to a Josephson junction was measured. We show that the plasma energy
of the Josephson junction defines a rather abrupt transition between a fast
relaxation regime dominated by coupling to photons and a slow relaxation regime
dominated by coupling to phonons. With realistic parameters the theory provides
a semi-quantitative description of the experimental results.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Dynamics of quasiparticle trapping in Andreev levels
International audienceWe present a theory describing the trapping of a quasiparticle in a prototypical Josephson junction , a single-channel superconducting weak link. We calculate the trapping and untrapping rates associated to absorption and emission of both photons and phonons. We show that the presence of an electromagnetic mode with frequency smaller than the gap gives rise to a rather abrupt transition between a fast relaxation regime dominated by coupling to photons and a slow relaxation regime dominated by coupling to phonons. This conclusion is illustrated by the analysis of a recent experiment 1 measuring the dynamics of quasiparticle trapping in a superconducting atomic contact coupled to a Josephson junction. With realistic parameters the theory provides a semi-quantitative description of the experimental results
The two-dimensional phase of boron nitride: Few-atomic-layer sheets and suspended membranes
We describe the synthesis of very thin sheets (between a few and ten atomic layers) of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), prepared either on a SiO2 substrate or freely suspended. Optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to characterize the morphology of the samples and to distinguish between regions of different thicknesses. Comparison is made to previous studies on single- and few-layer graphene. This synthesis opens the door to experimentally accessing the two-dimensional phase of boron nitride
Low Energy Electron Point Projection Microscopy of Suspended Graphene, the Ultimate "Microscope Slide"
Point Projection Microscopy (PPM) is used to image suspended graphene using
low-energy electrons (100-200eV). Because of the low energies used, the
graphene is neither damaged or contaminated by the electron beam. The
transparency of graphene is measured to be 74%, equivalent to electron
transmission through a sheet as thick as twice the covalent radius of
sp^2-bonded carbon. Also observed is rippling in the structure of the suspended
graphene, with a wavelength of approximately 26 nm. The interference of the
electron beam due to the diffraction off the edge of a graphene knife edge is
observed and used to calculate a virtual source size of 4.7 +/- 0.6 Angstroms
for the electron emitter. It is demonstrated that graphene can be used as both
anode and substrate in PPM in order to avoid distortions due to strong field
gradients around nano-scale objects. Graphene can be used to image objects
suspended on the sheet using PPM, and in the future, electron holography
Instability of two dimensional graphene: Breaking sp2 bonds with soft X-rays
We study the stability of various kinds of graphene samples under soft X-ray
irradiation. Our results show that in single layer exfoliated graphene (a
closer analogue to two dimensional material), the in-plane carbon-carbon bonds
are unstable under X-ray irradiation, resulting in nanocrystalline structures.
As the interaction along the third dimension increases by increasing the number
of graphene layers or through the interaction with the substrate (epitaxial
graphene), the effect of X-ray irradiation decreases and eventually becomes
negligible for graphite and epitaxial graphene. Our results demonstrate the
importance of the interaction along the third dimension in stabilizing the long
range in-plane carbon-carbon bonding, and suggest the possibility of using
X-ray to pattern graphene nanostructures in exfoliated graphene.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. B rapid communication, in pres
Quark--hadron duality in lepton scattering off nuclei
A phenomenological study of quark--hadron duality in electron and neutrino
scattering on nuclei is performed. We compute the structure functions and
in the resonance region within a framework that includes the
Dortmund-group model for the production of the {f}{i}rst four lowest-lying
baryonic resonances and a relativistic mean-field model for nuclei. We consider
four-momentum transfers between 0.2 and 2.5 GeV. The results indicate that
nuclear effects play a different role in the resonance and DIS region. We find
that global but not local duality works well. In the studied range of
four-momentum transfers, the integrated strength of the computed nuclear
structure functions in the resonance region, is considerably lower than the DIS
one.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
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