Effect of Cherenkov radiation on the jitter of solitons in the driven underdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model

The effect of complex dynamics of solitons on the output noise of the system (thermal jitter) is studied in the frame of the driven underdamped Frenkel-Kontorova model. In contrast to the continuous case, we have observed a dramatic splash of the jitter. It is demonstrated that this jitter increase is related to the joining of an initial soliton with the one generated by large amplitude oscillations of the Cherenkov radiation tail, which results in the establishment of a unified soliton structure

Observation of the second harmonic in superconducting current-phase relation of Nb/Au/(001)YBa2Cu3Ox heterojunctions

The superconducting current-phase relation (CPR) of Nb/Au/(001)YBa2Cu3Ox heterojunctions prepared on epitaxial c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3Ox thin films has been measured in a single-junction interferometer. For the first time, the second harmonic of the CPR of such junctions has been observed. The appearance of the second harmonic and the relative sign of the first and second harmonics of the CPR can be explained assuming, that the macroscopic pairing symmetry of our YBa2Cu3Ox thin films is of the d+s typeComment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Distinguishing quantum from classical oscillations in a driven phase qubit

Rabi oscillations are coherent transitions in a quantum two-level system under the influence of a resonant perturbation, with a much lower frequency dependent on the perturbation amplitude. These serve as one of the signatures of quantum coherent evolution in mesoscopic systems. It was shown recently [N. Gronbech-Jensen and M. Cirillo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 067001 (2005)] that in phase qubits (current-biased Josephson junctions) this effect can be mimicked by classical oscillations arising due to the anharmonicity of the effective potential. Nevertheless, we find qualitative differences between the classical and quantum effect. First, while the quantum Rabi oscillations can be produced by the subharmonics of the resonant frequency (multiphoton processes), the classical effect also exists when the system is excited at the overtones. Second, the shape of the resonance is, in the classical case, characteristically asymmetric; while quantum resonances are described by symmetric Lorentzians. Third, the anharmonicity of the potential results in the negative shift of the resonant frequency in the classical case, in contrast to the positive Bloch-Siegert shift in the quantum case. We show that in the relevant range of parameters these features allow to confidently distinguish the bona fide Rabi oscillations from their classical Doppelganger.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor corrections, Fig.1 added, introduction expande

Observation of macroscopic Landau-Zener transitions in a superconducting device

A two-level system traversing a level anticrossing has a small probability to make a so-called Landau-Zener (LZ) transition between its energy bands, in deviation from simple adiabatic evolution. This effect takes on renewed relevance due to the observation of quantum coherence in superconducting qubits (macroscopic "Schrodinger cat" devices). We report an observation of LZ transitions in an Al three-junction qubit coupled to a Nb resonant tank circuit.Comment: REVTeX4, 4pp., 4 EPS figures. v2: clarifications added; final, to appear in EP

Degenerate ground state in a mesoscopic YBaCuO grain boundary Josephson junction

We have measured the current-phase relationship (CPR) of symmetric 45 degree YBaCuO grain boundary Josephson junctions. Substantial deviations of the CPR from conventional tunnel-junction behavior have been observed: (i) The critical current exhibits, as a function of temperature T, a local minimum at a temperature T*. (ii) At T approximately equal to T*, the first harmonic of the CPR changes sign. (iii) For T<T*, the second harmonic of the CPR is comparable to the first harmonic, and (iv) the ground state of the junction becomes degenerate. The results are in good agreement with a microscopic model of Josephson junctions between d-wave superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, a reference adde

Measurement of the ground-state flux diagram of three coupled qubits as a first step towards the demonstration of adiabatic quantum computation

The ground state susceptibility of a system consisting of three flux-qubits was measured in the complete three dimensional flux space around the common degeneracy point of the qubits. The system's Hamiltonian could be completely reconstructed from measurements made far away from the common degeneracy point. The subsequent measurements made around this point show complete agreement with the theoretical predictions which follow from this Hamiltonian. The ground state anti-crossings of the system could be read-out directly from these measurements. This allows one to determine the ground-state flux diagram, which provides the solution for the non-polynomial optimization problem MAXCUT encoded in the Hamiltonian of the three-flux-qubit system. Our results show that adiabatic quantum computation can be demonstrated with this system provided that the energy gap and/or the speed of the read-out is increased.Comment: accepted for publication by Europhysics Letter

Stepping closer to pulsed single microwave photon detectors for axions search

Axions detection requires the ultimate sensitivity down to the single photon limit. In the microwave region this corresponds to energies in the yJ range. This extreme sensitivity has to be combined with an extremely low dark count rate, since the probability of axions conversion into microwave photons is supposed to be very low. To face this complicated task, we followed two promising approaches that both rely on the use of superconducting devices based on the Josephson effect. The first one is to use a single Josephson junction (JJ) as a switching detector (i.e. exploiting the superconducting to normal state transition in presence of microwave photons). We designed a device composed of a coplanar waveguide terminated on a current biased Josephson junction. We tested its efficiency to pulsed (pulse duration 10 ns) microwave signals, since this configuration is closer to an actual axions search experiment. We show how our device is able to reach detection capability of the order of 10 photons with frequency 8 GHz. The second approach is based on an intrinsically quantum device formed by two resonators coupled only via a superconducting qubit network (SQN). This approach relies on quantum nondemolition measurements of the resonator photons. We show that injecting RF power into the resonator, the frequency position of the resonant drop in the transmission coefficient (S21) can be modulated up to 4 MHz. We anticipate that, once optimized, both the devices have the potential to reach single photon sensitivity

Josephson effect in d-wave superconductor junctions in a lattice model

Josephson current between two d-wave superconductors is calculated by using a lattice model. Here we consider two types of junctions, $i.e.$, the parallel junction and the mirror-type junction. The maximum Josephson current $(J_{c})$ shows a wide variety of temperature ($T$) dependence depending on the misorientation angles and the types of junctions. When the misorientation angles are not zero, the Josephson current shows the low-temperature anomaly because of a zero energy state (ZES) at the interfaces. In the case of mirror-type junctions, $J_c$ has a non monotonic temperature dependence. These results are consistent with the previous results based on the quasiclassical theory. [Y. Tanaka and S. Kashiwaya: Phys. Rev. B \textbf{56} (1997) 892.] On the other hand, we find that the ZES disappears in several junctions because of the Freidel oscillations of the wave function, which is peculiar to the lattice model. In such junctions, the temperature dependence of $J_{c}$ is close to the Ambegaokar-Baratoff relation.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, using jpsj2.cls and oversite.st