712 research outputs found
Control of the responsivity and the detectivity of superconductive edge-transition YBa2Cu3O7-x bolometers through substrate properties
Cataloged from PDF version of article.The detectivity D* limits of YBa2Cu3O7-x bolometer on 0.05-cm-thick crystalline substrates are investigated, and a method to increase D* to greater than 10(9) (cm Hz(1/2))/W at a 20-mu m wavelength is proposed. Because the response increases proportionally with the bias current I-b, whereas the noise near T-c (the transition or critical temperature) of our MgO and SrTiO3 substrate samples does not, an increase in D* of these samples is obtained by an increase in I-b. Another limiting factor is the de thermal conductance G(0) of the device, which, although controlled by the substrate-holder thermal boundary resistance for our samples, can be changed by means of thinning the substrate to increase D*. The optimal amount of thinning depends on the substrate's thermal parameters and the radiation modulation frequency. D* in our samples is also found to follow the spectral-radiation absorption of the substrate material. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America
Photoinduced absorption from localized intra-gap states
A model is developed for photoinduced absorption from localized states
observed in femtosecond pump-probe experiments in high-Tc superconductors and
other materials. The dynamics of localized carriers are described in terms of
phenomenological approach similar to that originaly proposed by Rothwarf and
Taylor. Expanding the relaxation rate in powers of the order parameter we have
shown that density of localized carriers is sensitive to Tc. From the analysis
of the experimental data on YBa2Cu3O(7-x) and K0.3MoO3 we conclude that
significant intra-gap density of localized states exists in these materials.
Temperature dependence of the density of photoexcited localized carriers in
underdoped YBa2Cu3O(7-x) and in K0.3MoO3 is consistent with the observation of
the pseudogap above Tc.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, acepted for publication in Physica C, invited
poster presented at M2S, Feb. 20 - 25, 2000, Houston, US
Analytic modeling of patterned high-Tc superconductive bolometers: Film and substrate interface effects
Superconducting film and substrate interface effects on the response of superconductive edge-transition bolometers are modeled with a one dimensional thermal model in closed form, for samples with large area patterns compared to the substrate thickness. The results from the model agree with experimental results on samples made of meander line patterned granular YBCO films on crystalline substrates, in both the magnitude and phase of the response versus modulation frequency up to about 100 KHz, the limit of the characterization setup. Using the fit of the calculated frequency response curves obtained from the model to the measured ones, values of the film-substrate and substrate-holder thermal boundary resistance, heat capacity of the superconducting film, and the thermal parameters of the substrate materials could be investigated. While the calculated magnitude and phase of the response of the SrTiO3 substrate samples obtained from the model is in a very good agreement with the measured values, the calculated response of the LaAlO3 and MgO substrate samples deviate slightly from the measured values at very low frequencies, increasing with an increase in the thermal conductivity of the substrate material. Using the fit of the calculated response to the measured values, film-substrate thermal boundary resistances in the range of 4.4* 10-3 to 4.4* 10-2 K-cm2-w-1 are obtained for different substrate materials. The effect of substrate optical absorption in the response of the samples is also investigated
An unexpected twist to the activation of IKKβ:TAK1 primes IKKβ for activation by autophosphorylation
IKKβ {IκB [inhibitor of NF-κB (nuclear factor κB)] kinase β} is required to activate the transcription factor NF-κB, but how IKKβ itself is activated in vivo is still unclear. It was found to require phosphorylation by one or more ‘upstream’ protein kinases in some reports, but by autophosphorylation in others. In the present study, we resolve this contro-versy by demonstrating that the activation of IKKβ induced by IL-1 (interleukin-1) or TNF (tumour necrosis factor) in embryonic fibroblasts, or by ligands that activate Toll-like receptors in macrophages, requires two distinct phosphorylation events: first, the TAK1 [TGFβ (transforming growth factor β)-activated kinase-1]-catalysed phosphorylation of Ser(177) and, secondly, the IKKβ-catalysed autophosphorylation of Ser(181). The phosphorylation of Ser(177) by TAK1 is a priming event required for the subsequent autophosphorylation of Ser(181), which enables IKKβ to phosphorylate exogenous substrates. We also provide genetic evidence which indicates that the IL-1-stimulated, LUBAC (linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex)-catalysed formation of linear ubiquitin chains and their interaction with the NEMO (NF-κB essential modulator) component of the canonical IKK complex permits the TAK1-catalysed priming phosphorylation of IKKβ at Ser(177) and IKKα at Ser(176). These findings may be of general significance for the activation of other protein kinases
Relaxation Dynamics of Photoinduced Changes in the Superfluid Weight of High-Tc Superconductors
In the transient state of d-wave superconductors, we investigate the temporal
variation of photoinduced changes in the superfluid weight. We derive the
formula that relates the nonlinear response function to the nonequilibrium
distribution function. The latter qunatity is obtained by solving the kinetic
equation with the electron-electron and the electron-phonon interaction
included. By numerical calculations, a nonexponential decay is found at low
temperatures in contrast to the usual exponential decay at high temperatures.
The nonexponential decay originates from the nonmonotonous temporal variation
of the nonequilibrium distribution function at low energies. The main physical
process that causes this behavior is not the recombination of quasiparticles as
previous phenomenological studies suggested, but the absorption of phonons.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures; to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 80,
No.
A superconducting-nanowire 3-terminal electronic device
In existing superconducting electronic systems, Josephson junctions play a
central role in processing and transmitting small-amplitude electrical signals.
However, Josephson-junction-based devices have a number of limitations
including: (1) sensitivity to magnetic fields, (2) limited gain, (3) inability
to drive large impedances, and (4) difficulty in controlling the junction
critical current (which depends sensitively on sub-Angstrom-scale thickness
variation of the tunneling barrier). Here we present a nanowire-based
superconducting electronic device, which we call the nanocryotron (nTron), that
does not rely on Josephson junctions and can be patterned from a single thin
film of superconducting material with conventional electron-beam lithography.
The nTron is a 3-terminal, T-shaped planar device with a gain of ~20 that is
capable of driving impedances of more than 100 k{\Omega}, and operates in
typical ambient magnetic fields at temperatures of 4.2K. The device uses a
localized, Joule-heated hotspot formed in the gate to modulate current flow in
a perpendicular superconducting channel. We have characterized the nTron,
matched it to a theoretical framework, and applied it both as a digital logic
element in a half-adder circuit, and as a digital amplifier for superconducting
nanowire single-photon detectors pulses. The nTron has immediate applications
in classical and quantum communications, photon sensing and astronomy, and its
performance characteristics make it compatible with existing superconducting
technologies. Furthermore, because the hotspot effect occurs in all known
superconductors, we expect the design to be extensible to other materials,
providing a path to digital logic, switching, and amplification in
high-temperature superconductors
Vortex avalanches and magnetic flux fragmentation in superconductors
We report results of numerical simulations of non isothermal dendritic flux
penetration in type-II superconductors. We propose a generic mechanism of
dynamic branching of a propagating hotspot of a flux flow/normal state
triggered by a local heat pulse. The branching occurs when the flux hotspot
reflects from inhomogeneities or the boundary on which magnetization currents
either vanish, or change direction. Then the hotspot undergoes a cascade of
successive splittings, giving rise to a dissipative dendritic-type flux
structure. This dynamic state eventually cools down, turning into a frozen
multi-filamentary pattern of magnetization currents.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev. Let
Non-equilibrium Superconductivity and Quasiparticle Dynamics studied by Photo Induced Activation of Mm-Wave Absorption (PIAMA)
We present a study of non-equilibrium superconductivity in DyBa2Cu3O7-d using
photo induced activation of mm-wave absorption (PIAMA). We monitor the time
evolution of the thin film transmissivity at 5 cm-1 subject to pulsed infrared
radiation. In addition to a positive bolometric signal we observe a second,
faster, decay with a sign opposite to the bolometric signal for T>40 K. We
attribute this to the unusual properties of quasi-particles residing near the
nodes of an unconventional superconductor, resulting in a strong enhancement of
the recombination time.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Calculation of magnetic anisotropy energy in SmCo5
SmCo5 is an important hard magnetic material, due to its large magnetic
anisotropy energy (MAE). We have studied the magnetic properties of SmCo5 using
density functional theory (DFT) calculations where the Sm f-bands, which are
difficult to include in DFT calculations, have been treated within the LDA+U
formalism. The large MAE comes mostly from the Sm f-shell anisotropy, stemming
from an interplay between the crystal field and the spin-orbit coupling. We
found that both are of similar strengths, unlike some other Sm compounds,
leading to a partial quenching of the orbital moment (f-states cannot be
described as either pure lattice harmonics or pure complex harmonics), an
optimal situation for enhanced MAE. A smaller portion of the MAE can be
associated with the Co-d band anisotropy, related to the peak in the density of
states at the Fermi energy. Our result for the MAE of SmCo5, 21.6 meV/f.u.,
agrees reasonably with the experimental value of 13-16 meV/f.u., and the
calculated magnetic moment (including the orbital component) of 9.4 mu_B agrees
with the experimental value of 8.9 mu_B.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
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