21 research outputs found
Excessive noise as a test for many-body localization
Recent experimental reports suggested the existence of a finite-temperature insulator in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition. The rapid decay of conductivity over a narrow temperature range was theoretically linked to both a finite-temperature transition to a many-body-localized state, and to a charge-Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Here we report of low-frequency noise measurements of such insulators to test for many-body localization. We observed a huge enhancement of the low-temperatures noise when exceeding a threshold voltage for nonlinear conductivity and discuss our results in light of the theoretical models
The critical current of disordered superconductors near 0 K
An increasing current through a superconductor can result in a discontinuous increase in the differential resistance at the critical current. This critical current is typically associated either with breaking of Cooper-pairs or with the onset of collective motion of vortices. Here we measure the current–voltage characteristics of superconducting films at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. Using heat-balance considerations we demonstrate that the current–voltage characteristics are well explained by electron overheating enhanced by the thermal decoupling of the electrons from the host phonons. By solving the heat-balance equation we are able to accurately predict the critical currents in a variety of experimental conditions. The heat-balance approach is universal and applies to diverse situations from critical currents to climate change. One disadvantage of the universality of this approach is its insensitivity to the details of the system, which limits our ability to draw conclusions regarding the initial departure from equilibrium
Sensitivity of the superconducting state in thin films
For more than two decades, there have been reports on an unexpected metallic state separating the established superconducting and insulating phases of thin-film superconductors. To date, no theoretical explanation has been able to fully capture the existence of such a state for the large variety of superconductors exhibiting it. Here, we show that for two very different thin-film superconductors, amorphous indium oxide and a single crystal of 2H-NbSe2, this metallic state can be eliminated by adequately filtering external radiation. Our results show that the appearance of temperature-independent, metallic-like transport at low temperatures is sufficiently described by the extreme sensitivity of these superconducting films to external perturbations. We relate this sensitivity to the theoretical observation that, in two dimensions, superconductivity is only marginally stable
Extreme Sensitivity of the Superconducting State in Thin Films
All non-interacting two-dimensional electronic systems are expected to
exhibit an insulating ground state. This conspicuous absence of the metallic
phase has been challenged only in the case of low-disorder, low density,
semiconducting systems where strong interactions dominate the electronic state.
Unexpectedly, over the last two decades, there have been multiple reports on
the observation of a state with metallic characteristics on a variety of
thin-film superconductors. To date, no theoretical explanation has been able to
fully capture the existence of such a state for the large variety of
superconductors exhibiting it. Here we show that for two very different
thin-film superconductors, amorphous indium-oxide and a single-crystal of
2H-NbSe2, this metallic state can be eliminated by filtering external
radiation. Our results show that these superconducting films are extremely
sensitive to external perturbations leading to the suppression of
superconductivity and the appearance of temperature independent, metallic like,
transport at low temperatures. We relate the extreme sensitivity to the
theoretical observation that, in two-dimensions, superconductivity is only
marginally stable.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Photonic transistor and router using a single quantum-dotconfined spin in a single-sided optical microcavity
The future Internet is very likely the mixture of all-optical Internet with low power consumption and quantum Internet with absolute security guaranteed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Photons would be used for processing, routing and com-munication of data, and photonic transistor using a weak light to control a strong light is the core component as an optical analogue to the electronic transistor that forms the basis of modern electronics. In sharp contrast to previous all-optical tran-sistors which are all based on optical nonlinearities, here I introduce a novel design for a high-gain and high-speed (up to terahertz) photonic transistor and its counterpart in the quantum limit, i.e., single-photon transistor based on a linear optical effect: giant Faraday rotation induced by a single electronic spin in a single-sided optical microcavity. A single-photon or classical optical pulse as the gate sets the spin state via projective measurement and controls the polarization of a strong light to open/block the photonic channel. Due to the duality as quantum gate for quantum information processing and transistor for optical information processing, this versatile spin-cavity quantum transistor provides a solid-state platform ideal for all-optical networks and quantum networks
Nonequilibrium restoration of duality symmetry in the vicinity of the superconductor-to-insulator transition
Contactless nonlinear optics mediated by long-range Rydberg interactions
In conventional nonlinear optics, linear quantum optics1, 2, and cavity quantum electrodynamics3, 4 to create effective photon–photon interactions photons must have, at one time, interacted with matter inside a common medium. In contrast, in Rydberg quantum optics5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, optical photons are coherently and reversibly mapped onto collective atomic Rydberg excitations11, giving rise to dipole-mediated effective photon–photon interactions that are long range12, 13. Consequently, a spatial overlap between the light modes is no longer required. We demonstrate such a contactless coupling between photons stored as collective Rydberg excitations in spatially separate optical media. The potential induced by each photon modifies the retrieval mode of its neighbour7, 9, 14, 15, leading to correlations between them. We measure these correlations as a function of interaction strength, distance and storage time, demonstrating an effective interaction between photons separated by 15 times their wavelength. Contactless effective photon–photon interactions16 are relevant for scalable multichannel photonic devices15, 17 and the study of strongly correlated many-body dynamics using light18