3,195 research outputs found
The design and construction of the CAD-1 airship
The background history, design philosophy and Computer application as related to the design of the envelope shape, stress calculations and flight trajectories of the CAD-1 airship, now under construction by Canadian Airship Development Corporation are reported. A three-phase proposal for future development of larger cargo carrying airships is included
Fluxon-semifluxon interaction in an annular long Josephson 0-pi-junction
We investigate theoretically the interaction between integer and half-integer
Josephson vortices (fluxons and semifluxons) in an annular Josephson junction.
Semifluxons usually appear at the 0--boundary where there is a
-discontinuity of the Josephson phase. We study the simplest, but the most
interesting case of one -discontinuity in a loop, which can be created
only artificially. We show that measuring the current-voltage characteristic
after injection of an integer fluxon, one can determine the polarity of a
semifluxon. Depending on the relative polarity of fluxon and semifluxon the
static configuration may be stable or unstable, but in the dynamic state both
configurations are stable. We also calculate the depinning current of
fluxons pinned by an arbitrary fractional vortex.Comment: 8pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Ground states of one and two fractional vortices in long Josephson 0-kappa-junctions
Half integer Josephson vortices in 0--junctions, discussed theoretically
and observed experimentally, spontaneously appear at the point where the
Josephson phase is -discontinuous. The creation of \emph{arbitrary}
discontinuities of the Josephson phase has been demonstrated recently. Here we
study fractional vortices formed at an arbitrary -discontinuity,
discuss their stability and possible ground states. The two stable states are
not mirror symmetric. Furthermore, the possible ground states formed at two
-discontinuities separated by a distance are investigated, and the
energy and the regions of stability of each ground state are calculated. We
also show that the ground states may strongly depend on the distance
between the discontinuities. There is a crossover distance such that for
the ground states may be qualitatively different.Comment: 7 figures, submitted to PRB In v.2 one figure is added, and refs are
updated In v.3 major revision, many issues fixe
Observation of Andreev bound states in YBaCuO/Au/Nb ramp-type Josephson junctions
We report on Josephson and quasiparticle tunneling in YBa2Cu3O7-x(YBCO)/Au/Nb
ramp junctions of several geometries. Macroscopically, tunneling occurs in the
ab-plane of YBCO either in the (100) and (010) direction, or in the (110)
direction. These junctions have a stable and macroscopically well defined
geometry. This allows systematic investigations of both quasiparticle and
Josephson tunneling over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. With
Nb superconducting, its gap appears in the quasiparticle conductance spectra as
Nb coherence peaks and a dip at the center of a broadened zero-bias conductance
peak (ZBCP). As we increase the temperature or an applied magnetic field both
the Nb coherence peaks and the dip get suppressed and the ZBCP fully develops,
while states are conserved. With Nb in the normal state the ZBCP is observed up
to about 77 K and is almost unaffected by an increasing field up to 7 T. The
measurements are consistent with a convolution of density of states with
broadened Andreev bound states formed at the YBCO/Au/Nb junction interfaces.
Since junctions with different geometries are fabricated on the same substrate
under the same conditions one expects to extract reliable tunneling information
that is crystallographic direction sensitive. In high contrast to Josephson
tunneling, however, the quasiparticle conductance spectra are crystallographic
orientation insensitive: independent whether the tunneling occurs in the (100)
or (110) directions, a pronounced ZBCP is always observed, consistent with
microscopic roughness of the junction interfaces. Qualitatively, all these
particularities regarding quasiparticle spectra hold regardless whether the
YBCO thin film is twinned or untwinned.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
Laser microscopy of tunneling magnetoresistance in manganite grain-boundary junctions
Using low-temperature scanning laser microscopy we directly image electric
transport in a magnetoresistive element, a manganite thin film intersected by a
grain boundary (GB). Imaging at variable temperature allows reconstruction and
comparison of the local resistance vs temperature for both, the manganite film
and the GB. Imaging at low temperature also shows that the GB switches between
different resistive states due to the formation and growth of magnetic domains
along the GB. We observe different types of domain wall growth; in most cases a
domain wall nucleates at one edge of the bridge and then proceeds towards the
other edge.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Critical current diffraction pattern of SIFS Josephson junctions with step-like F-layer
We present the latest generation of
superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor Josephson tunnel junctions
with a step-like thickness of the ferromagnetic (F) layer. The F-layer
thicknesses and in both halves were varied to obtain different
combinations of positive and negative critical current densities and
. The measured dependences of the critical current on applied magnetic
field can be well described by a model which takes into account different
critical current densities (obtained from reference junctions) and different
net magnetization of the multidomain ferromagnetic layer in both halves.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Hot spots and waves in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks -a study by Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy
Recently, it has been shown that large stacks of intrinsic Josephson
junctions in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 emit synchronous THz radiation, the synchronization
presumably triggered by a cavity resonance. To investigate this effect we use
Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy to image electric field
distributions. Apart from verifying the appearance of cavity modes at low bias
we find that, in a high input power regime, standing-wave patterns are created
through interactions with a hot spot, possibly pointing to a new mode of
generating synchronized radiation in intrinsic Josephson junction stacks.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, supplementary information include
Cold atoms near superconductors: Atomic spin coherence beyond the Johnson noise limit
We report on the measurement of atomic spin coherence near the surface of a
superconducting niobium wire. As compared to normal conducting metal surfaces,
the atomic spin coherence is maintained for time periods beyond the Johnson
noise limit. The result provides experimental evidence that magnetic near field
noise near the superconductor is strongly suppressed. Such long atomic spin
coherence times near superconductors open the way towards the development of
coherently coupled cold atom / solid state hybrid quantum systems with
potential applications in quantum information processing and precision force
sensing.Comment: Major revisions of the text for submission to New Journal of Physics
8 pages, 4 figure
Collective Josephson Vortex Dynamics in Long Josephson Junction Stacks
We investigate the collective phase dynamics in conventional long Josephson
junction (LJJ) stacks and in layered superconductors, exhibiting intrinsic LJJ
behaviors. Using a theoretical model which accounts for both the magnetic
induction effect and the breakdown of local charge neutrality (i.e., charging
effect), we show that the collective motion of Josephson vortices, including
the dispersion of Josephson plasma mode and the Swihart-type velocity, in an
intrinsic LJJ stack such as BiSrCaCuO (BSCCO) is
significantly modified from those in a conventional LJJ stack. In BSCCO, the
strength of the charging effect is small (i.e., ), but it leads to notable changes in collective phase dynamics,
including changes to the stability condition. Also, we show that splitting of
the supercurrent branch in the resistive state is due to collective motion of
Josephson vortices. The width of spread of these sub-branches in the linear
current-voltage regime depends on , suggesting another way to measure
the charging effect in BSCCO.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Physica C (2002
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