An HTS quantum interferometer

Based on the principle of equivalence of the general theory of relativity and the definition of the non-Euclidean metric of space in a non-inertial frame of reference associated with rotation, a geometric (topological) phase is found that occurs when traversing any closed loop. This approach made it possible to establish a deep physical analogy between various wave effects (both classical and quantum) in closed waveguides that arise under the conditions of their rotation. Due to the coherence of the wave function of spinless charge carriers (Cooper pairs of conduction electrons with oppositely directed spins) in superconductors in the ground quantum state (superconducting state), the appearance of a geometric phase in closed loops under rotation conditions can lead to interference effects in the presence of weak bonds in the loop. To register interference effects, it was proposed to use superconducting quantum interferometers placed in the electric field of a cylindrical or spherical capacitor. In accordance with the general theory of the geometric phase of rotation, the study obtained the basic relations between the geometric phase of rotation and the phase of the wave function induced by an external magnetic field, and an estimate of their values was obtained for acceptable values of the angular velocity of rotation, dimensions of superconducting quantum interferometers, and voltages on the capacitor. The errors in measuring the magnetic flux during the rotation of the measuring complex are determined. Taking into account the dependence of the magnitude of the geometric phase of rotation on the voltage across the capacitor and the size of the superconducting quantum interferometers, and also taking into account the specific range of angular velocities of rotation, the sensitivity of superconducting quantum interferometers to the angular velocity can be regulated by a rational choice of these parameters. Based on the results obtained, a new method for measuring magnetic fields was proposed using two superconducting quantum interferometers with different values of areas bounded by closed contours under conditions of rotational movements, which makes it possible to compensate for the disturbing influence of rotations on magnetic measurements, as well as to simultaneously determine the magnetic induction and angular velocity of rotation.

Based on the principle of equivalence of the general theory of relativity and the definition of the non-Euclidean metric of space in a non-inertial frame of reference associated with rotation, a geometric (topological) phase is found that occurs when traversing any closed loop. This approach made it possible to establish a deep physical analogy between various wave effects (both classical and quantum) in closed waveguides that arise under the conditions of their rotation. Due to the coherence of the wave function of spinless charge carriers (Cooper pairs of conduction electrons with oppositely directed spins) in superconductors in the ground quantum state (superconducting state), the appearance of a geometric phase in closed loops under rotation conditions can lead to interference effects in the presence of weak bonds in the loop. To register interference effects, it was proposed to use superconducting quantum interferometers placed in the electric field of a cylindrical or spherical capacitor. In accordance with the general theory of the geometric phase of rotation, the study obtained the basic relations between the geometric phase of rotation and the phase of the wave function induced by an external magnetic field, and an estimate of their values was obtained for acceptable values of the angular velocity of rotation, dimensions of superconducting quantum interferometers, and voltages on the capacitor. The errors in measuring the magnetic flux during the rotation of the measuring complex are determined. Taking into account the dependence of the magnitude of the geometric phase of rotation on the voltage across the capacitor and the size of the superconducting quantum interferometers, and also taking into account the specific range of angular velocities of rotation, the sensitivity of superconducting quantum interferometers to the angular velocity can be regulated by a rational choice of these parameters. Based on the results obtained, a new method for measuring magnetic fields was proposed using two superconducting quantum interferometers with different values of areas bounded by closed contours under conditions of rotational movements, which makes it possible to compensate for the disturbing influence of rotations on magnetic measurements, as well as to simultaneously determine the magnetic induction and angular velocity of rotation.

Superconducting quantum interferometers with operating temperatures of up to 17°K have been fabricated from thin films of Nb3Sn and NbN by means of photolithographic and argon ion etching techniques.

Multijunction superconducting quantum interferometers can be created spontaneously by intrinsic junctions in granular high-Tc materials, and as a by-product of step-edge technology used to fabricate high-Tc thin film dc superconducting quantum interference devices. The properties of such systems are relatively little known. The theory predicts multivalued dependence of critical current Ic on applied magnetic flux Φe and the appearance of different stationary ‘‘phase states’’ related to different possible relationships between the phases of superconducting order parameter in individual junctions. We report on the measurements performed on a (2×2) quantum interferometer, comprising a series array of two underdamped all-niobium tunnel junctions in each parallel arm. Experimental results closely follow the theoretical predictions and reveal several instability regions, in which noise generation takes place. These findings can possibly be related to the random telegraph noise observed in high-Tc materials.

the possibility of using superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions in a cryogenic multiplexing system for setting an ac current through arrays of transition edge sensors and reading out the received signal, as well as for setting a dc current through arrays of superconducting quantum interferometers is studied. Operation of the SIS frequency converter at relatively low (below 10 GHz) working frequencies is experimentally investigated. Different operation regimes are implemented; the conversion loss in the quasiparticle mode is found to be 8 dB and the output saturation power is–58 dBm. The possibility of up-conversion of several input signal frequencies simultaneously is demonstrated. It is shown that the SIS junction can be used as a current source controlled by an external RF signal.

Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared in a solvo-thermal via sol-gel process by base-catalysed hydrolysis of zinc acetate with doping concentrations from 2 up to 5% Fe. The structural, magnetic and optical properties of the samples were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID) and UV-VIS spectroscopy. A reduction in particle size was shown with increase in the dopant (Fe) concentration in ZnO. The Fe-doped ZnO samples possess ferromagnetism at room temperature with significant changes in M-H loop with increasing doping concentration. The hysteresis loops reveal that the saturation magnetisation Ms and the coercivity Hc for 2% Fe and 5% Fe-doped ZnO are 2.29 emu/g, 3.91 emu/g, 671 Oe and 659 Oe, respectively. The optical properties were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescent spectroscopy. In this study, the optical band gap of ZnO nanoparticles increased from 3.5 eV to 3.71 eV when the Fe concentration was increased up to 5%. In the present work, the optical and magnetic properties of Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles are improved by a sol gel method.

Subject index to volume 167

Superconducting dc SQUID interferometer in magnetic field

High-performance modeling of neurophysiological processes is an urgent task that requires new approaches to information processing. In this context, two- and three-junction superconducting quantum interferometers with Josephson weak links based on gold nanowires are fabricated and investigated experimentally. The studied cells are proposed for the implementation of bio-inspired neurons—high-performance, energy-efficient, and compact elements of neuromorphic processor. The operation modes of an advanced artificial neuron capable of generating the burst firing activation patterns are explored theoretically. A comparison with the Izhikevich mathematical model of biological neurons is carried out.

Superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID) plays a key role in understanding electromagnetic properties and emergent phenomena in quantum materials. The technological appeal of SQUID is that its detection accuracy for the electromagnetic signal can precisely reach the quantum level of a single magnetic flux. However, conventional SQUID techniques normally can only be applied to a bulky sample and do not have the capability to probe the magnetic properties of micro-scale samples with small magnetic signals. Herein, it is demonstrated that, based on a specially designed superconducting nano-hole array, the contactless detection of magnetic properties and quantized vortices in micro-sized superconducting nanoflakes is realized. An anomalous hysteresis loop and a suppression of Little-Parks oscillation are observed in the detected magnetoresistance signal, which originates from the disordered distribution of the pinned vortices in Bi2 Sr2 CaCu2 O8+δ . Therefore, the density of pinning centers of the quantized vortices on such micro-sized superconducting samples can be quantitatively evaluated, which is technically inaccessible for conventional SQUID detection. The superconducting micro-magnetometer provides a new approach to exploring mesoscopic electromagnetic phenomena of quantum materials.

We theoretically investigate the temperature-to-phase conversion (TPC) process occurring in dc superconducting quantum interferometers based on superconductor--normal metal--superconductor (SNS) mesoscopic Josephson junctions. In particular, we predict the temperature-driven rearrangement of the phase gradients in the interferometer under the fixed constraints of fluxoid quantization and supercurrent conservation. This allows sizeable phase variations across the junctions for suitable structure parameters and temperatures. We show that the TPC can be a basis for sensitive single-photon sensors or bolometers. We propose a radiation detector realizable with conventional materials and state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques. Integrated with a superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (SQUIPT) as a readout set-up, an aluminum (Al)-based TPC calorimeter can provide a large signal to noise (S/N) ratio $>100$ in the 10~GHz$\cdots$10~THz frequency range, and a resolving power larger than $10^2$ below 50~mK for THz photons. In the bolometric operation, electrical NEP of $\sim10^{-22}$~W$/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ is predicted at 50 mK. This device can be attractive as a cryogenic single-photon sensor operating in the giga- and terahertz regime, with applications in dark matter searches.

We conduct a bifurcation analysis of a single-junction superconducting quantum interferometer with an external flux. We approximate the current-voltage characteristics of the conductance in the equivalent circuit of the JJ by using two types of functions: a linear function and a piecewise linear (PWL) function. We describe a method to compute the local stability of the solution orbit and to solve the bifurcation problem. As a result, we reveal the bifurcation structure of the systems in a two-dimensional parameter plane. By making a comparison between the linear and PWL cases, we find a difference in the shapes of their bifurcation sets in the two-dimensional parameter plane even though there are no differences in the one-dimensional bifurcation diagrams or the trajectories. As for the influence of piecewise linearization, we discovered that grazing bifurcations terminate the calculation of the local bifurcations, because they drastically change the stability of the periodic orbit.

Growth of bulk Ga 1− xMn xN single crystals

Differential displacement due to a gravitational force gradient, acting on two superconducting test masses which are elastically suspended from the instrument frame, is sensed by a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), coupled to the masses by a current flowing in the sensing circuits. The SQUID transducer absorbs energy from the masses, and, hence, it reacts with a random force (fluctuation-dissipation principle). This force increases if the coupling current grows. Additionally, the transducer outputs an amplification noise that is independent of the coupling. This output noise is equivalent to a force, applied to the masses, which decreases with stronger coupling, Hence, the strength of the total equivalent gravity gradient noise has a minimum with respect to the coupling. The minimum is found to be about 1.5/spl epsiv//sub A//spl omega//sub 0//sup 2//(ml/sup 2/), where /spl epsiv//sub A/ means the equivalent energy sensitivity, in the white noise limit, of the SQUID junctions; /spl omega//sub 0/ is the natural frequency of the mass suspension; m is the test mass, and l is the base length,.

Surface modification of graphene oxide sheets on magnetic particles for magnetic paper