0000000001297886
AUTHOR
Zhuoran Geng
Superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids for non-reciprocal electronics and detectors
We review the use of hybrid thin films of superconductors and ferromagnets for creating non-reciprocal electronic components and self-biased detectors of electromagnetic radiation. We start by introducing the theory behind these effects, as well as different possible materials that can be used in the fabrication of these components. We proceed by discussing in detail the fabrication and characterization of Al/EuS/Cu and EuS/Al/Co based detectors, along with their noise analysis. We also indicate some routes for multiplexing such self-biased detectors.
Heat transfer across a vacuum gap induced by piezoelectrically mediated acoustic phonon tunneling
In contradictin to the common concept that acoustic phonons can only travel inside a material medium, they can in fact "tunnel" across a vacuum gap with the help of piezoelectricity, transmitting a significantly stronger heat flux than that of blackbody radiation. Here, we present a theoretical formulation for the heat flux of such piezoelectrically mediated heat transfer, applicable to any anisotropic piezoelectric crystals with an arbitrary orientation. A few numerical results are demonstrated and compared to heat transfer driven by other close-range mechanisms, including near-field radiative heat transfer and other acoustic phonon tunneling mechanisms. We find that piezoelectrically medi…
Intregrating metallic wiring with three-dimensional polystyrene colloidal crystals using electron-beam lithography and three-dimensional laser lithography
We demonstrate a method to fabricate narrow, down to a few micron wide metallic leads on top of a three-dimensional colloidal crystal self-assembled from polystyrene (PS) nanospheres of diameter 260 nm, using electron-beam lithography. This fabrication is not straightforward due to the fact that PS nanospheres cannot usually survive the harsh chemical treatments required in the development and lift-off steps of electron-beam lithography. We solve this problem by increasing the chemical resistance of the PS nanospheres using an additional electron-beam irradiation step, which allows the spheres to retain their shape and their self-assembled structure, even after baking to a temperature of 16…
Analytical models for the pulse shape of a superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junction thermoelectric microcalorimeter
AbstractThe superconductor-ferromagnet thermoelectric detector (SFTED) is a novel ultrasensitive radiation detector based on the giant thermoelectric effect in superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions. We demonstrate analytical models and solutions in the time domain for a SFTED operated as a microcalorimeter (pulse excitation), in the linear small-signal limit. Based on these solutions, the signal current and temperature pulse response were studied for two different electrical circuit models, providing design conditions for stable and non-oscillatory response.Kindly check and confirm whether the corresponding author is correctly identified.The corresponding author is correct.
Normal metal - insulator - superconductor thermometers and coolers with titanium-gold bilayer as the normal metal
We have fabricated superconductor - insulator - normal metal - insulator - superconductor (SINIS) tunnel junctions in which Al acts as the superconductor, AlOx is the insulator, and the normal metal consists of a thin Ti layer (5 nm) covered with a thicker Au layer (40 nm). We have characterized the junctions by measuring their current-voltage curves between 60 mK and 750 mK. For comparison, the same measurements have been performed for a SINIS junction pair whose normal metal is Cu. The Ti-Au bilayer decreases the SINIS tunneling resistance by an order of magnitude compared to junctions where Cu is used as normal metal, made with the same oxidation parameters. The Ti-Au devices are much mo…
Nanofabrication on 2D and 3D Topography via Positive‐Tone Direct‐Write Laser Lithography
Direct laser writing (DLW) lithography using two‐photon absorption is a powerful technique mostly used for fabrication of complex structures in micro‐ and nanoscale, by photopolymerizing a negative‐tone resist. In contrast, in this study it is demonstrated that DLW is also well suited for fabricating nano‐ to microscale metallic structures using lift‐off and a positive‐tone photoresist. It is shown first that versatile, fast and large area fabrication is possible on flat two‐dimensional insulating substrates, and an expression for how the line width varies with the scanning speed is derived, with excellent agreement with the experiments. Even more interestingly, a unique application for the…
Development of an Inductive NIS Thermometer
We have studied an inductive readout for normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions by using on-chip planar inductors and a DC SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) to develop a sensitive and fast thermometer for studies of nanoscale heat conduction and bolometry. Our initial results show the feasibility of the concept, with a good sensitivity for temperatures below 1 K for aluminum as the superconductor when voltage biased close to the superconductor energy gap. peerReviewed
Minimizing coherent thermal conductance by controlling the periodicity of two-dimensional phononic crystals
Periodic hole array phononic crystals (PnC) can strongly modify the phonon dispersion relations, and have been shown to influence thermal conductance coherently, especially at low temperatures where scattering is suppressed. One very important parameter influencing this effect is the period of the structure. Here, we measured the sub-Kelvin thermal conductance of nanofabricated PnCs with identical hole filling factors, but three different periodicities, 4, 8, and 16 $\mu$m, using superconducting tunnel junction thermometry. We found that all the measured samples can suppress thermal conductance by an order of magnitude, and have a lower thermal conductance than the previously measured small…
Acoustic wave tunneling across a vacuum gap between two piezoelectric crystals with arbitrary symmetry and orientation
It is not widely appreciated that an acoustic wave can “jump” or “tunnel” across a vacuum gap between two piezoelectric solids, nor has the general case been formulated or studied in detail. Here, we remedy that situation, by presenting a general formalism and approach to study such an acoustic tunneling effect between two arbitrarily oriented anisotropic piezoelectric semi-infinite crystals. The approach allows one to solve for the reflection and transmission coefficients of all the partial-wave modes, and is amenable to practical numerical or even analytical implementation, as we demonstrate by a few chosen examples. The formalism can be used in the future for quantitative studies of the …
Superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junction thermoelectric bolometer and calorimeter with a SQUID readout
Superconductor-ferromagnet thermoelectric detector (SFTED) is a novel ultrasensitive radiation detector based on the giant thermoelectric effect in superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions. This type of detector can be operated without the need of additional bias lines, and is predicted to provide a performance rivaling transition-edge sensors and kinetic inductance detectors. Here we report our numerical studies on the SFTED noise equivalent power, energy resolution and time constant, and the feasibility of a SQUID readout in both bolometric and calorimetric regimes, with the goal to provide practical design parameters for the detector fabrication and the readout circuitry implementatio…
Development of an inductive NIS thermometer
Normal metal-Insulator-Superconductor (NIS) tunnel junction thermometers have been under heavy research since 1976 after Rowell and Tsui first presented thanks to their excellent sensitivity to the temperature change in millikelvin regime. In this work, we have designed and studied an inductive readout for NIS tunnel junctions by using on-chip planar inductors and a DC SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) to develop a sensitive and fast thermometer for studies of nanoscale heat conduction and bolometry. In this thesis, the processing of the samples fabricated in Nanoscience Center in Jyväskylä are presented, and several processing challenges have been dealt with and the fabri…