Search results for "superconductor"
showing 10 items of 93 documents
Nonlinear Microwave Spectrometer for Investigating High-Tc Superconductors
2000
We describe a nonlinear microwave spectrometer, which can be conveniently used for investigating the harmonic generation at microwave frequencies in high-Tc superconductors. The use of this technique allows highlighting mechanisms responsible for the nonlinear microwave response of high-Tc superconductors as well as measuring specific characteristics of the investigated samples. We report a brief review of the main results obtained.
Existence of zero-energy impurity states in different classes of topological insulators and superconductors and their relation to topological phase t…
2015
We consider the effects of impurities on topological insulators and superconductors. We start by identifying the general conditions under which the eigenenergies of an arbitrary Hamiltonian H belonging to one of the Altland-Zirnbauer symmetry classes undergo a robust zero energy crossing as a function of an external parameter which can be, for example, the impurity strength. We define a generalized root of \det H, and use it to predict or rule out robust zero-energy crossings in all symmetry classes. We complement this result with an analysis based on almost degenerate perturbation theory, which allows a derivation of the asymptotic low-energy behavior of the ensemble averaged density of st…
Properties of dirty two-band superconductors with repulsive interband interaction: Normal modes, length scales, vortices, and magnetic response
2018
Disorder in two-band superconductors with repulsive interband interaction induces a frustrated competition between the phase-locking preferences of the various potential and kinetic terms. This frustrated interaction can result in the formation of an $s+is$ superconducting state, that breaks the time-reversal symmetry. In this paper we study the normal modes and their associated coherence lengths in such materials. We especially focus on the consequences of the soft modes stemming from the frustration and time-reversal-symmetry breakdown. We find that two-bands superconductors with such impurity-induced frustrated interactions display a rich spectrum of physical properties that are absent i…
Thermoelectric radiation detector based on a superconductor-ferromagnet junction : Calorimetric regime
2018
We study the use of a thermoelectric junction as a thermal radiation detector in the calorimetric regime, where single radiation bursts can be separated in time domain. We focus especially on the case of a large thermoelectric figure of merit $ZT$ affecting significantly for example the relevant thermal time scales. This work is motivated by the use of hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet systems in creating an unprecedentedly high low-temperature $ZT$ even exceeding unity. Besides constructing a very general noise model which takes into account cross correlations between charge and heat noise, we show how the detector signal can be efficiently multiplexed by the use of resonant LC circuits gi…
Measuring charge based quantum bits by a superconducting single-electron transistor
2002
Single-electron transistors have been proposed to be used as a read-out device for Cooper pair charge qubits. Here we show that a coupled superconducting transistor at a threshold voltage is much more effective in measuring the state of a qubit than a normal-metal transistor at the same voltage range. The effect of the superconducting gap is to completely block the current through the transistor when the qubit is in the logical state 1, compared to the mere diminishment of the current in the normal-metal case. The time evolution of the system is solved when the measuring device is driven out of equilibrium and the setting is analysed numerically for parameters accessible by lithographic alu…
Incoherent midinfrared charge excitation and the high-energy anomaly in the photoemission spectra of cuprates
2007
On the basis of a semi-phenomenological model, it is argued that the high energy anomaly observed in recent photoemission experiments on cuprates is caused by interaction with an overdamped bosonic mode in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum. Analysis of optical conductivity allows to connect this excitation to the incoherent charge response reported for the majority of high Tc materials and some other perovskites. We show that its large damping is an essential feature responsible for the "waterfall" dispersion and linewidth of the spectral weight.
Symmetry breaking and singularity structure in Bose-Einstein condensates
2012
We determine the trajectories of vortex singularities that arise after a single vortex is broken by a discretely symmetric impulse in the context of Bose-Einstein condensates in a harmonic trap. The dynamics of these singularities are analyzed to determine the form of the imprinted motion. We find that the symmetry-breaking process introduces two effective forces: a repulsive harmonic force that causes the daughter trajectories to be ejected from the parent singularity, and a Magnus force that introduces a torque about the axis of symmetry. For the analytical non-interacting case we find that the parent singularity is reconstructed from the daughter singularities after one period of the tra…
General interpolation scheme for thermal fluctuations in superconductors
2006
We present a general interpolation theory for the phenomenological effects of thermal fluctuations in superconductors. Fluctuations are described by a simple gauge invariant extension of the gaussian effective potential for the Ginzburg-Landau static model. The approach is shown to be a genuine variational method, and to be stationary for infinitesimal gauge variations around the Landau gauge. Correlation and penetration lengths are shown to depart from the mean field behaviour in a more or less wide range of temperature below the critical regime, depending on the class of material considered. The method is quite general and yields a very good interpolation of the experimental data for very…
Evidence for Multiband Superconductivity in the Heavy Fermion CompoundUNi2Al3
2004
Epitaxial thin films of the heavy fermion superconductor UNi2Al3 with Tc(max)=0.98 K were investigated. The transition temperature Tc depends on the current direction which can be related to superconducting gaps opening at different temperatures. Also the influence of the magnetic ordering at TN approximately 5 K on R(T) is strongly anisotropic, indicating different coupling between the magnetic moments and itinerant charge carriers on the multisheeted Fermi surface. The upper critical field Hc2(T) suggests an unconventional spin-singlet superconducting state.
Neutron diffraction study of the heavy fermion superconductors UM2Al3(M=Pd, Ni)
1992
An elastic neutron scattering study was performed on the new superconducting heavy fermion systems UPd2Al3 and UNi2Al3. The neutron diffraction patterns reveal unambiguously long range antiferromagnetic order in UPd2Al3 with an ordered magnetic momentμ U = (0.85±0.03)μ B , which coexists with the superconducting state. This is by far the largestμ U value observed for any heavy fermion superconductor. For UNi2Al3, no long-range magnetic order could be observed for temperaturesT≧1.5 K, yielding an upper limit of the ordered moment of 0.2μ B .