Superconducting Spintronics with Magnetic Domain Walls

The recent experimental demonstration of spin-polarized supercurrents offer a venue for establishment of a superconducting analogue to conventional spintronics. Whereas domain wall motion in purely magnetic structures is a well-studied topic, it is not clear how domain wall dynamics may influence superconductivity and if some functional property can be harnessed from such a scenario. Here, we demonstrate that domain wall motion in superconducting systems offers a unique way of controlling the quantum state of the superconductor. Considering both the diffusive and ballistic limits, we show that moving the domain wall to different locations in a Josephson junction will change the quantum ground state from being in a 0 state to a $\pi$ state. Remarkably, we also show that domain wall motion can be used to turn on and off superconductivity: the position of the domain wall determines the critical temperature $T_c$ and thus if the system is in a resistive state or not, causing even a quantum phase transition between the dissipationless and normal state at $T=0$. In this way, one achieves dynamical control over the superconducting state within a single sample by utilizing magnetic domain wall motion

Graphene-based extremely wide-angle tunable metamaterial absorber

We investigate the absorption properties of graphene-based anisotropic metamaterial structures where the metamaterial layer possesses an electromagnetic response corresponding to a near-zero permittivity. We find that through analytical and numerical studies, near perfect absorption arises over an unusually broad range of beam incidence angles. Due to the presence of graphene, the absorption is tunable via a gate voltage, providing dynamic control of the energy transmission. We show that this strongly enhanced absorption arises due to a coupling between light and a fast wave-mode propagating along the graphene/metamaterial hybrid.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Polarization squeezing by optical Faraday rotation

We show that it is possible to generate continuous-wave fields and pulses of polarization squeezed light by sending classical, linearly polarized laser light twice through an atomic sample which causes an optical Faraday rotation of the field polarization. We characterize the performance of the process, and we show that an appreciable degree of squeezing can be obtained under realistic physical assumptions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Singlet-Triplet Superconducting Quantum Magnetometer

Motivated by the recent experimental realization of a quantum interference transistor based on the superconducting proximity effect, we here demonstrate that the inclusion of a textured ferromagnet both strongly enhances the flux sensitivity of such a device and additionally allows for singlet-triplet switching by tuning a bias voltage. This functionality makes explicit use of the induced spin-triplet correlations due to the magnetic texture. Whereas the existence of such triplet correlations is well-known, our finding demonstrates how spin-triplet superconductivity may be utilized for concrete technology, namely to improve the functionality of ultra-sensitive magnetometers.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. To Appear in Physical Review

Lead markets for fuel cells in stationary applications

In the paper it is analysed which countries are likely to become the lead markets for fuel cells in stationary applications. The study is part of a larger research project “Policy Frameworks for the Development of International Markets for Innovations of a Sustainable Economy - from Pilot Markets to Lead Markets (LEAD)”. In the course of this project more than 20 environmental technologies were examined regarding the regional differences of their market introduction and penetration. The project aims to explain why some countries are earlier in the introduction of environmental innovations and why the market penetration is more encompassing than in others. If the technologies of the pioneering countries diffuse to other countries without great modification, they can be analysed as lead markets for environmental innovations. Fuel cells for electricity generation in stationary are an emerging technology that is still in the stage of development and demonstration. There are several competing innovation designs on the market, and it is still open which technology is likely to be successful. The different technologies are described and compared among each other, as well as against conventional technologies for power generation. Three countries can be identified as frontrunners in the development of fuel cells, namely the United States, Japan and Germany. These countries are analysed regarding the R&D; policies, the conditions for combined heat and power generation (CHP), the structure of energy prices, and regarding environmental policies that aim at internalising the environmental costs of energy production. The paper evaluates the different activities to stimulate the development and market introduction of fuel cells from a comparative perspective in order to assess respective lead market potential

Dynamical effects of exchange symmetry breaking in mixtures of interacting bosons

In a double-well potential, a Bose-Einstein condensate exhibits Josephson oscillations or self-trapping, depending on its initial preparation and on the ratio of inter-particle interaction to inter-well tunneling. Here, we elucidate the role of the exchange symmetry for the dynamics with a mixture of two distinguishable species with identical physical properties, i.e. which are governed by an isospecific interaction and external potential. In the mean-field limit, the spatial population imbalance of the mixture can be described by the dynamics of a single species in an effective potential with modified properties or, equivalently, with an effective total particle number. The oscillation behavior can be tuned by populating the second species while maintaining the spatial population imbalance and all other parameters constant. In the corresponding many-body approach, the single-species description approximates the full counting statistics well also outside the realm of spin-coherent states. The method is extended to general Bose-Hubbard systems and to their classical mean-field limits, which suggests an effective single-species description of multicomponent Bose gases with weakly an-isospecific interactions.Comment: amended and expanded, accepted for Phys. Rev. A, 14 pages, 7 figure