51 research outputs found
Upper bound on the Andreev states induced second harmonic in the Josephson coupling of YBa2Cu3O7-δ/Nb junctions from experiment and numerical simulations
Theory predicts that d-wave superconductivity induces a significant second harmonic J2 in the Josephson current, as a result of zero-energy Andreev states ZES formed at the junction interface. Consequently, anomalies such as half-integer Shapiro steps and signatures of period doubling of the dc Josephson current versus magnetic field should be observed. We performed experiments on junctions between untwinned d-wave YBa2Cu3O7-δ and Nb and found no trace of such anomalies although clear evidence of Andreev states formation is provided. These findings do not lead to an observable J2. This result combined with extensive numerical simulations put an upper bound on the ZES-induced J2 of about 0.1% from the first harmonic in the Josephson current for tunneling into the 010 direction and of about 2% for tunneling close to the 110 direction. Our results suggest strong J2 suppression by diffusive scattering, which is possibly due to nanoscale interface roughness. This is important for proposed quantum-electronic device concepts based on the expectance of J2
Static semifluxons in a long Josephson junction with π-discontinuity points
We investigate analytically a long Josephson junction with several -discontinuity points characterized by a jump of in the phase difference of the junction. The system is described by a perturbed-combined sine-Gordon equation. Via phase-portrait analysis, it is shown how the existence of static semifluxons localized around the discontinuity points is influenced by the applied bias current. In junctions with more than one corner, there is a minimum-facet-length for semifluxons to be spontaneously generated. A stability analysis is used to obtain the minimum-facet-length for multicorner junctions
Controlling Josephson dynamics by strong microwave fields
We observe several sharp changes in the slope of the current-voltage characteristics CVCs of thin-film
ramp-edge Josephson junctions between YBa2Cu3O7− and Nb when applying strong microwave fields. Such
behavior indicates an intriguing Josephson dynamics associated with the switching from a parametric excitation
regime induced by the magnetic field of the microwave via oscillations of the Josephson critical current to
an ac-current-excitation regime triggered by the electric field of the microwave. We propose a model, which
describes the observed features on the CVC in terms of microwave-induced multiple switching between
running and locked solutions of sine-Gordon equation
Superconducting thin films of MgB2 on (001)-Si by pulsed laser deposition
Superconducting thin films have been prepared on Si-substrates, using pulsed
laser deposition from a target composed of a mixture of Mg and MgB2 powders.
The films were deposited at room temperature and post-annealed at 600 degrees
C. The zero resistance transition temperatures were 12 K, with an onset
transition temperature of 27 K. Special care has been taken to avoid oxidation
of Mg in the laser plasma and deposited film, by optimizing the background
pressure of Ar gas in the deposition chamber. For this the optical emission in
the visible range from the plasma has been used as indicator. Preventing Mg
from oxidation was found to be essential to obtain superconducting films
Periodic alternating -junction structures as realization of -Josephson junctions
We consider the properties of a periodic structure consisting of small
alternating 0- and pi- Josephson junctions. We show that depending on the
relation between the lengths of the individual junctions, this system can be
either in the homogeneous or in the phase-modulated state. The modulated phase
appears via a second order phase transition when the mismatch between the
lengths of the individual junctions exceeds the critical value. The screening
length diverges at the transition point. In the modulated state, the
equilibrium phase difference in the structure can take any value from -pi to pi
(phi-junction). The current-phase relation in this structure has very unusual
shape with two maxima. As a consequence, the field dependence of the critical
current in a small structure is very different from the standard Fraunhofer
dependence. The Josephson vortex in a long structure carries partial magnetic
flux, which is determined by the equilibrium phase.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figues, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Fluxoid dynamics in superconducting thin film rings
We have measured the dynamics of individual magnetic fluxoids entering and
leaving photolithographically patterned thin film rings of the underdoped
high-temperature superconductor BiSrCaCuO, using a
variable sample temperature scanning SQUID microscope. These results can be
qualitatively described using a model in which the fluxoid number changes by
thermally activated nucleation of a Pearl vortex in, and transport of the Pearl
vortex across, the ring wall.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, fixed typo
Paramagnetic effect in YBaCuO grain boundary junctions
A detailed investigation of the magnetic response of YBaCuO grain boundary
Josephson junctions has been carried out using both radio-frequency
measurements and Scanning SQUID Microscopy. In a nominally zero-field-cooled
regime we observed a paramagnetic response at low external fields for 45 degree
asymmetric grain boundaries. We argue that the observed phenomenology results
from the d-wave order parameter symmetry and depends on Andreev bound states.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.
Superconducting thin films of MgB2 on Si by pulsed laser deposition
Superconducting thin films have been prepared on Si-substrates, using pulsed laser deposition from a target composed of a mixture of Mg and MgB2 powders. The films were deposited at room temperature and annealed at 600°C. The zero resistance transition temperatures were 11-15.5 K, with an onset transition temperature of 27 K. Special care has been taken to avoid oxidation of Mg in the laser plasma and deposited film, by optimizing the background pressure of Ar gas in the deposition chamber. For this the optical emission in the visible range from the plasma has been used as indicator. Preventing Mg from oxidation was found to be essential to obtain superconducting films
Admixture of an s-wave component to the d-wave gap symmetry in high-temperature superconductors
Neutron crystal-field spectroscopy experiments in the Y- and La-type
high-temperature superconductors HoBa2Cu3O6.56, HoBa2Cu4O8, and
La1.81Sr0.15Ho0.04CuO4 are reviewed. By this bulk-sensitive technique,
information on the gap function is obtained from the relaxation behavior of
crystal-field transitions associated with the Ho3+ ions which sit as local
probes close to the superconducting copper-oxide planes. The relaxation data
exhibit a peculiar change from a convex to a concave shape between the
superconducting transition temperature Tc and the pseudogap temperature T*
which can only be modelled satisfactorily if the gap function of predominantly
d-wave symmetry includes an s-wave component of the order of 20-25%,
independent of the doping level. Moreover, our results are compatible with an
unusual temperature dependence of the gap function in the pseudogap region
(Tc<T<T*), i.e., a breakup of the Fermi surface into disconnected arcs.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in J.
Supercond. Nov. Mag
Quantum phase transitions from topology in momentum space
Many quantum condensed matter systems are strongly correlated and strongly
interacting fermionic systems, which cannot be treated perturbatively. However,
physics which emerges in the low-energy corner does not depend on the
complicated details of the system and is relatively simple. It is determined by
the nodes in the fermionic spectrum, which are protected by topology in
momentum space (in some cases, in combination with the vacuum symmetry). Close
to the nodes the behavior of the system becomes universal; and the universality
classes are determined by the toplogical invariants in momentum space. When one
changes the parameters of the system, the transitions are expected to occur
between the vacua with the same symmetry but which belong to different
universality classes. Different types of quantum phase transitions governed by
topology in momentum space are discussed in this Chapter. They involve Fermi
surfaces, Fermi points, Fermi lines, and also the topological transitions
between the fully gapped states. The consideration based on the momentum space
topology of the Green's function is general and is applicable to the vacua of
relativistic quantum fields. This is illustrated by the possible quantum phase
transition governed by topology of nodes in the spectrum of elementary
particles of Standard Model.Comment: 45 pages, 17 figures, 83 references, Chapter for the book "Quantum
Simulations via Analogues: From Phase Transitions to Black Holes", to appear
in Springer lecture notes in physics (LNP
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