2,487 research outputs found
Inverse proximity effect in superconductors near ferromagnetic material
We study the electronic density of states in a mesoscopic superconductor near
a transparent interface with a ferromagnetic metal. In our tunnel spectroscopy
experiment, a substantial density of states is observed at sub-gap energies
close to a ferromagnet. We compare our data with detailed calculations based on
the Usadel equation, where the effect of the ferromagnet is treated as an
effective boundary condition. We achieve an excellent agreement with theory
when non-ideal quality of the interface is taken into account.Comment: revised, 7 pages, 3 figure
Measuring non-Gaussian fluctuations through incoherent Cooper pair current
We study a Josephson junction (JJ) in the regime of incoherent Cooper pair
tunneling, capacitively coupled to a nonequilibrium noise source. The
current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the JJ are sensitive to the excess
voltage fluctuations in the source, and can thus be used for wide-band noise
detection. Under weak driving, the odd part of the I-V can be related to the
second cumulant of noise, whereas the even part is due to the third cumulant.
After calibration, one can measure the Fano factors for the noise source, and
get information about the frequency dependence of the noise.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A one-channel conductor in an ohmic environment: mapping to a TLL and full counting statistics
It is shown that a one-channel mesoscopic conductor in an ohmic environment
can be mapped to the problem of a backscattering impurity in a
Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL). This allows to determine non perturbatively
the effect of the environment on curves, and to find an exact
relationship between dynamic Coulomb blockade and shot noise. We investigate
critically how this relationship compares to recent proposals in the
literature. The full counting statistics is determined at zero temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, shortened version for publication in Phys. Rev.
Let
Electron-magnon coupling and nonlinear tunneling transport in magnetic nanoparticles
We present a theory of single-electron tunneling transport through a
ferromagnetic nanoparticle in which particle-hole excitations are coupled to
spin collective modes. The model employed to describe the interaction between
quasiparticles and collective excitations captures the salient features of a
recent microscopic study. Our analysis of nonlinear quantum transport in the
regime of weak coupling to the external electrodes is based on a rate-equation
formalism for the nonequilibrium occupation probability of the nanoparticle
many-body states. For strong electron-boson coupling, we find that the
tunneling conductance as a function of bias voltage is characterized by a large
and dense set of resonances. Their magnetic field dependence in the large-field
regime is linear, with slopes of the same sign. Both features are in agreement
with recent tunneling experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Giant current fluctuations in an overheated single electron transistor
Interplay of cotunneling and single-electron tunneling in a thermally
isolated single-electron transistor (SET) leads to peculiar overheating
effects. In particular, there is an interesting crossover interval where the
competition between cotunneling and single-electron tunneling changes to the
dominance of the latter. In this interval, the current exhibits anomalous
sensitivity to the effective electron temperature of the transistor island and
its fluctuations. We present a detailed study of the current and temperature
fluctuations at this interesting point. The methods implemented allow for a
complete characterization of the distribution of the fluctuating quantities,
well beyond the Gaussian approximation. We reveal and explore the parameter
range where, for sufficiently small transistor islands, the current
fluctuations become gigantic. In this regime, the optimal value of the current,
its expectation value, and its standard deviation differ from each other by
parametrically large factors. This situation is unique for transport in
nanostructures and for electron transport in general. The origin of this
spectacular effect is the exponential sensitivity of the current to the
fluctuating effective temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Positive noise cross-correlations in superconducting hybrids: Roles of interfaces and interactions
Shot noise cross-correlations in normal metal-superconductor-normal metal
structures are discussed at arbitrary interface transparencies using both the
scattering approach of Blonder, Tinkham and Klapwik and a microscopic Green's
function approach. Surprisingly, negative crossed conductance in such set-ups
[R. Melin and D. Feinberg, Phys. Rev. B 70, 174509 (2004)] does not preclude
the possibility of positive noise cross-correlations for almost transparent
contacts. We conclude with a phenomenological discussion of interactions in the
one dimensional leads connected to the superconductor, which induce sign
changes in the noise cross-correlations.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Specific heat anomalies of open quantum systems
The evaluation of the specific heat of an open, damped quantum system is a
subtle issue. One possible route is based on the thermodynamic partition
function which is the ratio of the partition functions of system plus bath and
of the bath alone. For the free damped particle it has been shown, however,
that the ensuing specific heat may become negative for appropriately chosen
environments. Being an open system this quantity then naturally must be
interpreted as the change of the specific heat obtained as the difference
between the specific heat of the heat bath coupled to the system degrees of
freedom and the specific heat of the bath alone. While this difference may
become negative, the involved specific heats themselves are always positive;
thus, the known thermodynamic stability criteria are perfectly guaranteed. For
a damped quantum harmonic oscillator, instead of negative values, under
appropriate conditions one can observe a dip in the difference of specific
heats as a function of temperature. Stylized minimal models containing a single
oscillator heat bath are employed to elucidate the occurrence of the anomalous
temperature dependence of the corresponding specific heat values. Moreover, we
comment on the consequences for the interpretation of the density of states
based on the thermal partitionfunction.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, new title and some modifications of the main tex
Tunneling into Nonequilibrium Luttinger Liquid with Impurity
We evaluate tunneling rates into/from a voltage biased quantum wire
containing weak backscattering defect. Interacting electrons in such a wire
form a true nonequilibrium state of the Luttinger liquid (LL). This state is
created due to inelastic electron backscattering leading to the emission of
nonequilibrium plasmons with typical frequency . The
tunneling rates are split into two edges. The tunneling exponent at the Fermi
edge is positive and equals that of the equilibrium LL, while the exponent at
the side edge is negative if Coulomb interaction is not too strong.Comment: 4+ pages, 5 figure
Supercurrent-induced temperature gradient across a nonequilibrium SNS Josephson junction
Using tunneling spectroscopy, we have measured the local electron energy
distribution function in the normal part of a superconductor-normal
metal-superconductor (SNS) Josephson junction containing an extra lead to a
normal reservoir. In the presence of simultaneous supercurrent and injected
quasiparticle current, the distribution function exhibits a sharp feature at
very low energy. The feature is odd in energy, and odd under reversal of either
the supercurrent or the quasiparticle current direction. The feature represents
an effective temperature gradient across the SNS Josephson junction that is
controllable by the supercurrent.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, corrected typos, added plot to figure
Creative Relations
Through reporting about a project with male home carers, Iâm going to present some of the interactions which took place between myself (as the artist) and the participants as we got to know each other, and became part of each otherâs lives. The text takes the form of a series of extracts taken directly from my own personal journals followed by a commentary on each. These have been selected to highlight the similarities between Ingoldâs descriptions of creativity and Kesterâs model for a dialogical aesthetic, which highlights key points in the engagement processes of a socially engaged artist. These reflective notes, made while the experiences were still fresh in my mind, help to illustrate the impact not only on the participants but also upon the artist as a participant in the social process
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