420 research outputs found
Disordered Josephson junction chains: Anderson localization of normal modes and impedance fluctuations
We study the properties of the normal modes of a chain of Josephson junctions
in the simultaneous presence of disorder and absorption. We consider the
superconducting regime of small phase fluctuations and focus on the case where
the effects of disorder and absorption can be treated additively. We analyze
the frequency shift and the localization length of the modes. We also calculate
the distribution of the frequency-dependent impedance of the chain. The
distribution is Gaussian if the localization length is long compared to the
absorption length; it has a power law tail in the opposite limit.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Nonadiabatic creation of macroscopic superpositions with strongly correlated 1D bosons on a ring trap
We consider a strongly interacting quasi-one dimensional Bose gas on a tight
ring trap subjected to a localized barrier potential. We explore the
possibility to form a macroscopic superposition of a rotating and a nonrotating
state under nonequilibrium conditions, achieved by a sudden quench of the
barrier velocity. Using an exact solution for the dynamical evolution in the
impenetrable-boson (Tonks-Girardeau) limit, we find an expression for the
many-body wavefunction corresponding to a superposition state. The
superposition is formed when the barrier velocity is tuned close to multiples
of integer or half-integer number of Coriolis flux quanta. As a consequence of
the strong interactions, we find that (i) the state of the system can be mapped
onto a macroscopic superposition of two Fermi spheres, rather than two
macroscopically occupied single-particle states as in a weakly interacting gas,
and (ii) the barrier velocity should be larger than the sound velocity to
better discriminate the two components of the superposition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, revised introduction and new Fig3, final version
to appear in PR
Damping of Josephson oscillations in strongly correlated one-dimensional atomic gases
We study Josephson oscillations of two strongly correlated one-dimensional
bosonic clouds separated by a localized barrier. Using a quantum-Langevin
approach and the exact Tonks-Girardeau solution in the impenetrable-boson
limit, we determine the dynamical evolution of the particle-number imbalance,
displaying an effective damping of the Josephson oscillations which depends on
barrier height, interaction strength and temperature. We show that the damping
originates from the quantum and thermal fluctuations intrinsically present in
the strongly correlated gas. Thanks to the density-phase duality of the model,
the same results apply to particle-current oscillations in a one-dimensional
ring where a weak barrier couples different angular momentum states
Quantum Phase-Slip Junction Under Microwave Irradiation
We consider the dynamics of a quantum phase-slip junction (QPSJ) -- a dual
Josephson junction -- connected to a microwave source with frequency
. With respect to an ordinary Josephson junction, a QPSJ
can sustain dual Shapiro steps, consisting of well-defined current plateaus at
multiple integers of in the current-voltage (I-V)
characteristic. The experimental observation of these plateaus has been elusive
up to now. We argue that thermal as well as quantum fluctuations can smear the
I-V characteristic considerably. In order to understand these effects, we study
a current-biased QPSJ under microwave irradiation and connected to an inductive
and resistive environment. We find that the effect of these fluctuations are
governed by the resistance of the environment and by the ratio of the
phase-slip energy and the inductive energy. Our results are of interest for
experiments aimed at the observation of dual Shapiro steps in QPSJ devices for
the definition of a new quantum current standard.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, comments and suggestions would be greatly
appreciate
Correlated tunneling into a superconductor in a multiprobe hybrid structure
We consider tunneling in a hybrid system consisting of a superconductor with
two or more probe electrodes which can be either normal metals or polarized
ferromagnets. In particular we study transport at subgap voltages and
temperatures. Besides Andreev pair tunneling at each contact, in multi-probe
structures subgap transport involves additional channels, which are due to
coherent propagation of two particles (electrons or holes), each originating
from a different probe electrode. The relevant processes are electron
cotunneling through the superconductor and conversion of two electrons stemming
from different probes in a Cooper pair. These processes are non-local and decay
when the distance between the pair of involved contacts is larger than the
superconducting coherence length. The conductance matrix of a the three
terminal hybrid structure is calculated. The multi-probe processes enhance the
conductance of each contact. If the contacts are magnetically polarized the
contribution of the various conduction channels may be separately detected.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted in Europhysics Letters, minor changes, 3
references adde
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