11,637 research outputs found
Enhancement of quasiparticle recombination in Ta and Al superconductors by implantation of magnetic and nonmagnetic atoms
The quasiparticle recombination time in superconducting films, consisting of
the standard electron-phonon interaction and a yet to be identified low
temperature process, is studied for different densities of magnetic and
nonmagnetic atoms. For both Ta and Al, implanted with Mn, Ta and Al, we observe
an increase of the recombination rate. We conclude that the enhancement of
recombination is not due to the magnetic moment, but arises from an enhancement
of disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Microwave-induced excess quasiparticles in superconducting resonators measured through correlated conductivity fluctuations
We have measured the number of quasiparticles and their lifetime in aluminium
superconducting microwave resonators. The number of excess quasiparticles below
160 mK decreases from 72 to 17 m with a 6 dB decrease of the
microwave power. The quasiparticle lifetime increases accordingly from 1.4 to
3.5 ms. These properties of the superconductor were measured through the
spectrum of correlated fluctuations in the quasiparticle system and condensate
of the superconductor, which show up in the resonator amplitude and phase
respectively. Because uncorrelated noise sources vanish, fluctuations in the
superconductor can be studied with a sensitivity close to the vacuum noise
Quasiparticle relaxation in optically excited high-Q superconducting resonators
The quasiparticle relaxation time in superconducting films has been measured
as a function of temperature using the response of the complex conductivity to
photon flux. For tantalum and aluminium, chosen for their difference in
electron-phonon coupling strength, we find that at high temperatures the
relaxation time increases with decreasing temperature, as expected for
electron-phonon interaction. At low temperatures we find in both
superconducting materials a saturation of the relaxation time, suggesting the
presence of a second relaxation channel not due to electron-phonon interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Energy-Efficient Algorithms
We initiate the systematic study of the energy complexity of algorithms (in
addition to time and space complexity) based on Landauer's Principle in
physics, which gives a lower bound on the amount of energy a system must
dissipate if it destroys information. We propose energy-aware variations of
three standard models of computation: circuit RAM, word RAM, and
transdichotomous RAM. On top of these models, we build familiar high-level
primitives such as control logic, memory allocation, and garbage collection
with zero energy complexity and only constant-factor overheads in space and
time complexity, enabling simple expression of energy-efficient algorithms. We
analyze several classic algorithms in our models and develop low-energy
variations: comparison sort, insertion sort, counting sort, breadth-first
search, Bellman-Ford, Floyd-Warshall, matrix all-pairs shortest paths, AVL
trees, binary heaps, and dynamic arrays. We explore the time/space/energy
trade-off and develop several general techniques for analyzing algorithms and
reducing their energy complexity. These results lay a theoretical foundation
for a new field of semi-reversible computing and provide a new framework for
the investigation of algorithms.Comment: 40 pages, 8 pdf figures, full version of work published in ITCS 201
Photon noise limited radiation detection with lens-antenna coupled Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors
Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) have shown great potential for
sub-mm instrumentation because of the high scalability of the technology. Here
we demonstrate for the first time in the sub-mm band (0.1...2 mm) a photon
noise limited performance of a small antenna coupled MKID detector array and we
describe the relation between photon noise and MKID intrinsic
generation-recombination noise. Additionally we use the observed photon noise
to measure the optical efficiency of detectors to be 0.8+-0.2.Comment: The following article has been submitted to AP
Number fluctuations of sparse quasiparticles in a superconductor
We have directly measured quasiparticle number fluctuations in a thin film
superconducting Al resonator in thermal equilibrium. The spectrum of these
fluctuations provides a measure of both the density and the lifetime of the
quasiparticles. We observe that the quasiparticle density decreases
exponentially with decreasing temperature, as theoretically predicted, but
saturates below 160 mK to 25-55 per cubic micron. We show that this saturation
is consistent with the measured saturation in the quasiparticle lifetime, which
also explains similar observations in qubit decoherence times
Performance of Hybrid NbTiN-Al Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors as Direct Detectors for Sub-millimeter Astronomy
In the next decades millimeter and sub-mm astronomy requires large format
imaging arrays and broad-band spectrometers to complement the high spatial and
spectral resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array. The
desired sensors for these instruments should have a background limited
sensitivity and a high optical efficiency and enable arrays thousands of pixels
in size. Hybrid microwave kinetic inductance detectors consisting of NbTiN and
Al have shown to satisfy these requirements. We present the second generation
hybrid NbTiN-Al MKIDs, which are photon noise limited in both phase and
amplitude readout for loading levels fW. Thanks to the
increased responsivity, the photon noise level achieved in phase allows us to
simultaneously read out approximately 8000 pixels using state-of-the-art
electronics. In addition, the choice of superconducting materials and the use
of a Si lens in combination with a planar antenna gives these resonators the
flexibility to operate within the frequency range THz. Given
these specifications, hybrid NbTiN-Al MKIDs will enable astronomically usable
kilopixel arrays for sub-mm imaging and moderate resolution spectroscopy.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and
Instrumentation 2014: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors
and Instrumentation for Astronomy VI
Diversity and inclusion depend on effective engagement It is everyone’s business to ensure that progress is maintained
Purpose – Highlights some of the things that can be done to ensure that organizations embed diversity and inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach – Considers the need for effective engagement, the importance of performance indicators for diversity and inclusion and the key role of sharing stories. Discusses, too, how critical race theory could help to bring about improvements.
Findings – Advances the view that a transformational process that supports employees with the knowledge and sustainable skills needed to improve business performance via ethical means will form a significant part of future-proofing organizations.
Practical implications – Argues that, to achieve this organizations have to drive home the message that diversity and inclusion are everyone’s business.
Social implications – Advances the view that a unified approach to diversity and inclusion, which is embedded in the business ethics of the organization, can have a sustainable positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals, business and society.
Originality/value – Considers diversity and inclusion from diverse perspectives and draws conclusions that can help organizations to perform better in these areas
A First Principles Theory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance J-Coupling in solid-state systems
A method to calculate NMR J-coupling constants from first principles in
extended systems is presented. It is based on density functional theory and is
formulated within a planewave-pseudopotential framework. The all-electron
properties are recovered using the projector augmented wave approach. The
method is validated by comparison with existing quantum chemical calculations
of solution-state systems and with experimental data. The approach has been
applied to verify measured J-coupling in a silicophosphate structure,
Si5O(PO4)6Comment: 9 page
- …