637 research outputs found
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.
Evidence for Thermally Activated Spontaneous Fluxoid Formation in Superconducting Thin-Film Rings
We have observed spontaneous fluxoid generation in thin-film rings of the
amorphous superconductor MoSi, cooled through the normal-superconducting
transition, as a function of quench rate and externally applied magnetic field,
using a variable sample temperature scanning SQUID microscope. Our results can
be explained using a model of freezout of thermally activated fluxoids,
mediated by the transport of bulk vortices across the ring walls. This
mechanism is complementary to a mechanism proposed by Kibble and Zurek, which
only relies on causality to produce a freezout of order parameter fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Dissipation in ultra-thin current-carrying superconducting bridges; evidence for quantum tunneling of Pearl vortices
We have made current-voltage (IV) measurements of artificially layered
high- thin-film bridges. Scanning SQUID microscopy of these films provides
values for the Pearl lengths that exceed the bridge width, and shows
that the current distributions are uniform across the bridges. At high
temperatures and high currents the voltages follow the power law , with , and at high temperatures and
low-currents the resistance is exponential in temperature, in good agreement
with the predictions for thermally activated vortex motion. At low
temperatures, the IV's are better fit by linear in . This is
expected if the low temperature dissipation is dominated by quantum tunneling
of Pearl vortices.Comment: 5 pages, 7 fig
Magnetic imaging of pearl vortices in artificially layered (Ba 0.9Nd0.1CuO2+x)m/(CaCuO 2)n systems
We have used scanning SQUID magnetometry to image vortices in ultrathin (Ba0.9Nd0.1CuO2+x)(m)/(CaCuO2)(n) high temperature superconductor samples, with as few as three superconducting CuO2 planes. The Pearl lengths (Lambda=2lambda(L)(2)/d, lambda(L) the London penetration depth, d the superconducting film thickness) in these samples, as determined by fits to the vortex images, agree with those by local susceptibility measurements, and can be as long as 1 mm. The in-plane penetration depths lambda(ab) inferred from the Pearl lengths are longer than many bulk cuprates with comparable critical temperatures. We speculate on the causes of the long penetration depths, and on the possibility of exploiting the unique properties of these superconductors for basic experiments
identification of peri prostatic neurovascular fibers before and after radical prostatectomy by means of diffusion tensor imaging dti with clinical correlations initial experience
Aim: To evaluate if Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is able to detect morphological changes of peri-prostatic neurovascular fibers (PNF) before and after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and if these changes are related to urinary incontinence (UI) and erectile dysfunction (ED).
Materials and methods: From October 2014 and August 2017 26 patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer underwent prostatic multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) including DTI sequencing before and six months after, RARP. Images were analyzed by placing six regions of interest (ROI) respectively at the base, mid-gland and apex, one for each side, to obtain tractography reconstruction of the PNF. Patients were asked to complete an International Consultation Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaires before RARP and 6 months postoperatively. Fractional anisotropy (FA), number (N) and length (L) of PNF before and after RARP were compared by means of Student's t-test; Spearman test was used to evaluate the correlation between DTI parameters and questionnaires scores. We observed a significant difference in N values before and after RARP (p<0.001) and a negative correlation between IIEF-5 score and post-operative FA values at both the right (rho=-0.42; p= 0.0456) and left (rho=- 0.66; p=0.0006) base of the prostate. DTI with tractography of PNF is able to detect quantitative changes in N, L and FA values in PNF after RARP. In particular we observed an inverse correlation between FA of PNF and ED at 6 months after RARP. Further investigations are needed to confirm this trend
Andreev reflection in layered structures: implications for high T_c grain boundary Josephson junctions
Andreev reflection is investigated in layered anisotropic normal metal /
superconductor (N/S) systems in the case of an energy gap \Delta in S not
negligible with respect to the Fermi energy E_F, as it probably occurs with
high critical temperature superconductors (HTS). We find that in these limits
retro-reflectivity, which is a fundamental feature of Andreev reflection, is
broken modifying sensitively transport across S/N interfaces. We discuss the
consequences for supercurrents in HTS Josephson junctions and for the midgap
states in S-N contactsComment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Strong interconversion of non-polar phonons and Josephson plasma oscillations induced by equilibrium Josephson currents in high T_c superconductors
We analyze consequences of dynamical modulations of Josephson current by
non-polar lattice mode in the Josephson junction barrier. In the high
junctions, the effect of such modulations can be anomalously strong due to the
proximity of the insulating barrier to the superconducting state. Accordingly,
the interconversion of sound (as well as other non-polar phonons) and the
Josephson plasma oscillations mediated by stationary Josephson currents, which
may be present in the junction due to various reasons, becomes possible. We
suggest that this effect can be employed for imaging of the stationary
Josephson currents. Estimates of the effect are given.Comment: 11 RevTeX pages, no figure
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