Ballistic reflection at a side-gate in a superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor structure

We have fabricated a sub-micron-sized structure consisting of an InAs-based 2DEG, two narrow Nb leads and a gate, where the indirect ballistic transport between the non-oppositely superconducting contacts can be controlled by the voltage applied to the gate. This new kind of tuneable junction can be used for applications and allows several fundamental questions related to the transport mechanism to be studied. First results of experiments carried out in this respect are presented.Comment: 6 pages, 4 eps-figure

On the energy-shell contributions of the three-particle~-~ three-hole excitations

The response functions for the extended second and third random phase approximation are compared. A second order perturbation calculation shows that the first-order amplitude for the direct $3p3h$ excitation from the ground state cancels with those that are engendered by the $1p1h$-$3p3h$ coupling. As a consequence nonvanishing $3p3h$ effects to the $1p1h$ response involve off energy shell renormalization only. On shell $3p3h$ processes are absent.Comment: 12 pages text (LaTex) and 1 figure included, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Boundary States for Supertubes in Flat Spacetime and Godel Universe

We construct boundary states for supertubes in the flat spacetime. The T-dual objects of supertubes are moving spiral D1-branes (D-helices). Since we can obtain these D-helices from the usual D1-branes via null deformation, we can construct the boundary states for these moving D-helices in the covariant formalism. Using these boundary states, we calculate the vacuum amplitude between two supertubes in the closed string channel and read the open string spectrum via the open closed duality. We find there are critical values of the energy for on-shell open strings on the supertubes due to the non-trivial stringy correction. We also consider supertubes in the type IIA Godel universe in order to use them as probes of closed timelike curves. This universe is the T-dual of the maximally supersymmetric type IIB PP-wave background. Since the null deformations of D-branes are also allowed in this PP-wave, we can construct the boundary states for supertubes in the type IIA Godel universe in the same way. We obtain the open string spectrum on the supertube from the vacuum amplitude between supertubes. As a consequence, we find that the tachyonic instability of open strings on the supertube, which is the signal of closed time like curves, disappears due to the stringy correction.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, v2: explanations added, references added, v3: explanations adde

Dephasing of a superconducting flux qubit

In order to gain a better understanding of the origin of decoherence in superconducting flux qubits, we have measured the magnetic field dependence of the characteristic energy relaxation time ($T_1$) and echo phase relaxation time ($T_2^{\rm echo}$) near the optimal operating point of a flux qubit. We have measured $T_2^{\rm echo}$ by means of the phase cycling method. At the optimal point, we found the relation $T_2^{\rm echo}\approx 2T_1$. This means that the echo decay time is {\it limited by the energy relaxation} ($T_1$ process). Moving away from the optimal point, we observe a {\it linear} increase of the phase relaxation rate ($1/T_{2}^{\rm echo}$) with the applied external magnetic flux. This behavior can be well explained by the influence of magnetic flux noise with a $1/f$ spectrum on the qubit

Spectroscopy of SrRuO/Ru Junctions in Eutectic

We have investigated the tunnelling properties of the interface between superconducting Sr2RuO4 and a single Ru inclusion in eutectic. By using a micro-fabrication technique, we have made Sr2RuO4/Ru junctions on the eutectic system that consists of Sr2RuO4 and Ru micro-inclusions. Such a eutectic system exhibits surface superconductivity, called the 3-K phase. A zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) was observed in the 3-K phase. We propose to use the onset of the ZBCP to delineate the phase boundary of a time-reversal symmetry breaking state.Comment: To be published in Proc of 24th Int. Conf. on Low Temperature Physics (LT24); 2 page