This thesis investigates a novel optoelectronic platform based on the integration of superconductive structures, such as thin films and micro-constrictions, with optical waveguides for ultra-fast and ultra-sensitive devices with applications including high-speed optical communications, quantum optical information processing, and terahertz (THz) devices and systems. The kinetic-inductive photoresponse of superconducting thin films will be studied as the basic optoelectronic process underlying the operation of these novel devices. Analytical formulation for the non-bolometric response is presented, and experimental photodetection in YBCO meander-line structures will be demonstrated. A set of superconducting coplanar waveguides (CPW) are designed and characterized, which support the operation of the devices at microwave frequencies. Microwave-photonic devices comprising a microwave transmission line and a light-sensitive element, such as a meander-line structure, are designed and measured for implementation of optically tunable microwave components. In order to support low-loss and low-dispersion propagation of millimeter-wave and THz signals in ultra-fast and wideband kinetic-inductive devices, surface-wave transmission lines are proposed, incorporating long-wavelength Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP) modes in planar metal-dielectric waveguides. The theory of superconducting optical waveguides, including analytical formulation and numerical methods, is developed in detail. The implementation of superconducting optical waveguides is discussed thoroughly, employing conventional dielectric-waveguide techniques as well as optical SPP modes. Superconductive traveling-wave photodetectors (STWPDs) are introduced as a viable means for ultra-fast and ultra-sensitive photodetection and photomixing. A modified transmission line formalism is developed to model STWPDs, where light is guided through an optical waveguide and photodetection is distributed along a transmission line. As an appendix, a systematic approach is developed for the analysis of carrier transport through superconducting heterostructures and micro-constrictions within the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) framework. The method is applied to study the role of Andreev reflection and Josephson-like phenomena in the current-voltage characteristics of inhomogeneous superconducting structures. I-V characteristics are experimentally demonstrated in YBCO micro-constrictions with potential applications in millimeter-wave and THz devices.

The thesis begins with an introduction to transformer theory. The partial core transformer is then introduced and compared with a full core design. A brief introduction to superconductors and high temperature superconductors is then presented. High temperature superconducting fault current limiters are then examined and the advantage of a high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter as a single unit is highlighted. The reverse design model is discussed followed by the model parameters that are used in designing the high temperature superconducting partial core transformer. Partial core transformers with copper windings and high temperature superconductor windings at the University of Canterbury were then tested and the measured results compared with the results calculated from the reverse design model, to validate the model. The high temperature superconducting partial core transformer failed during an endurance run and the investigation of the failure is then presented. The results of the failure investigation prompted an alternative winding insulation design. A model to calculate the time at which the high temperature superconducting winding of the partial core transformer would melt at different currents was then built. The time was calculated to be used in the operation of the quench detection mechanism and it could also be used in choosing a circuit breaker with a known operating time. The design of the high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter is then presented. Design configurations with different core length and winding length are examined. The idea behind choosing the final design for the high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter is then discussed. The final design of the high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter is then presented. A new 7.5 kVA, 230-248 V high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter was designed, built and tested. The windings are layer wound with first generation Bi2223 high temperature superconductor. A series of electrical tests were performed on the new device including open circuit, short circuit, resistive load, overload and fault ride through. These tests were performed to determine the operational characteristics of the new high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter. The measured results from the tests were compared with the calculated results. The fault ride through test results were then compared to a 15 kVA high temperature superconducting partial core transformer that was designed and built at the University of Canterbury. Since the resistive component of the silver matrix in Bi2223 high temperature superconductor plays a very little role in controlling the fault current, the current limited by the leakage reactance is compared between the two devices. The high temperature superconducting partial core transformer and fault current limiter was found to be 99.1% efficient at rated power with 5.7% regulation and fault current limiting ability of 500 % over the 15 kVA high temperature superconductor partial core transformer from University of Canterbury.

Quantum information and quantum computation are linked by a common mathematical and physical framework of quantum mechanics. The manipulation of the predicted dynamics and its optimization is known as quantum control. Many techniques, originating in the study of nuclear magnetic resonance, have found common usage in methods for processing quantum information and steering physical systems into desired states. This thesis expands on these techniques, with careful attention to the regime where competing effects in the dynamics are present, and no semi-classical picture exists where one effect dominates over the others. That is, the transition between the diabatic and adiabatic error regimes is examined, with the use of such techniques as time-dependent diagonalization, interaction frames, average-Hamiltonian expansion, and numerical optimization with multiple time-dependences. The results are applied specifically to superconducting systems, but are general and improve on existing methods with regard to selectivity and crosstalk problems, filtering of modulation of resonance between qubits, leakage to non-compuational states, multi-photon virtual transitions, and the strong driving limit.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Physics, August 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 182 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-182). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

En physique des particules, les grands accélérateurs permettent de sonder la matière en produisant des collisions de faisceaux à haute énergie. Dans un accélérateur circulaire, l'énergie maximale de collision dépend directement de l'intensité du champ magnétique dipolaire servant à guider les particules le long de leur orbite. Dans le large collisionneur de hadrons installé au CERN, l'énergie de collision maximale est de 14 TeV dans le centre de masse. Réaliser des collisions à plus haute énergies nécessitera alors l'utilisation de matériaux supraconducteurs à haute température critique (HTS). Dans cette perspective, les propriétés électromécaniques des différents conducteurs HTS sont caractérisées et paramétrées à 4.2 K sous des inductions allant jusqu'à 12 T. Dans les aimants supraconducteurs d'accélérateur, le câble doit être à fort ampérage et à haute densité de courant (15 kA-400 A/mm2). Il consistera en plusieurs conducteurs HTS connectés en parallèle. La caractérisation et la modélisation des performances de tels câbles dans leurs futures conditions opérationnelles sont exposées dans cette thèse. / Particle colliders are the main tool for investigating and understanding the fundamental laws of physics. The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is a circular accelerator which steers and collides two counter-rotating protons beams. It has four collision points where detectors are placed to analyze the products emerging from the collisions. In a synchrotron machine a magnetic flux density is used to guide and focus particles around the orbit. The maximum energy that a circular machine with a given geometry can achieve is limited by the maximum strength of the dipole magnetic flux density. There is therefore an interest in the particle physics community in searching for dipole magnets with higher strength. The LHC has a beam trajectory radius of 4.3 km and a collision center-of-mass energy of 14 TeV. The accelerator employs 1232 large superconducting Nb-Ti dipole magnets operated at a flux density of up to 8.3 T in a bath of superfluid helium at 1.9 K. Energies higher than that achieved with the LHC require magnets made from superconductors with higher upper critical flux density. Nb3Sn is an option for magnets operated up to about 14 T. The level of energies of the type being discussed for a potential energy upgrade of the LHC machine - 33 TeV- would require the use of high temperature superconductors (HTS). Three technical HTS are available today: YBCO, Bi-2212 and Bi-2223. At low temperature YBCO conductors present both irreversible flux density and current density in excess of those measured in Bi-2212 and Bi-2223 conductors. In addition, YBCO can be used as reacted conductor, which makes its use for applications simpler than Bi-2212, which requires heat treatment at high temperature and in oxygen atmosphere after cabling and winding. The level of currents required for application to accelerator magnets, which is above 10 kA at the nominal operating temperature and flux density, excludes the use of single strands. The high current and high current density required can be achieved with cables having several strands connected in parallel. The main objective of my work has been the study of HTS cables for high current/high current density applications, starting from the analysis and selection of suitable conductors, through the characterization of their intrinsic (e.g. critical surface, strain sensitivity and irreversible strain) and extrinsic (e.g. cabling degradation) properties, with the final objective of validating 10 kA-range cables based on HTS material for high flux density magnets. The performance of YBCO and Bi-2223 tapes at 4 K under parallel and perpendicular flux density is measured using purpose built samples holders. A complete review of the strain sensitivity of HTS materials is presented, and the measured critical current retention of HTS tapes under torsion is discussed. Expressions that describe the critical current density of HTS conductors as a function of flux density strength, flux density orientation, temperature and strain are introduced. Analytical models that provide the allowable twist and bending radius of YBCO tapes as a function of strain are elaborated and compared with measurements. The accurate expressions are then used to compute the margins of the winding pack of a 19 T dipole made with a YBCO cable. Roebel cables made of YBCO high current strands are characterized at 4.2 K and in flux densities of up to 9.6 These are the first measurements ever performed at 4.2 K and with high currents. The Roebel cables reached critical currents of up to 12 kA with engineering current density in excess of 1.1 kA/mm2 at 7.5 T. These measurements demonstrate the potential of Roebel cables for high flux density magnets. During measurements two out of four Roebel cables were irreversibly damaged. The mechanism of failures is detailed and explained. Finally the performance and current distribution of HTS cables is computed and compared with measurements

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Abstract The topic of this thesis is superconducting electric circuits. Technical advances have made possible the experimental study of Josephson junction based circuit elements which sustain quantum mechanical properties long enough to be denoted as quantum devices. The quantum state can be controlled with electronic variables and measured using standard electrical setups. The research is motivated by the possibility to examine quantum phenomena in circumstances that can be customized, prospects of new quantum devices, and the development of quantum information processing. This thesis presents theoretical studies on the nonlinear and stochastic driving of a superconducting quantum two-level system (qubit). We first investigate the energy level shifts a single-Cooper-pair transistor under large amplitude driving realized via the inherently nonlinear Josephson energy by using an external magnetic flux. The effective driving field substantially deviates from a circular polarization and linear coupling. The energy level shifts are compared to the cases of a vanishing and a weak driving field, measured as the Stark shift and the generalized Bloch-Siegert shift, respectively. We describe criteria for the natural basis of the analytical and the numerical calculations. In addition to that, we develop a formalism based on the Floquet method for the weak probe measurement of the strongly driven qubit. In the latter part of the thesis research, we study utilization of a stochastic driving field whose time evolution is not regular but follows probabilistic laws. We concentrate on the motional averaging phenomenon and show that it can be measured with an unparalleled accuracy by employing a flux-modulated transmon qubit. As the stochastically modulated qubit is simultaneously measured with a moderate driving field, we develop a theoretical description accounting the possible interference effects between the modulation and the drive. The comparison with experimental results shows good agreement. Motional averaging phenomenon can be applied to estimate the properties of fluctuation processes occurring in qubits, e.g., the quasiparticle tunneling or the photon shot noise. Resting on the motional averaging, we anticipate that the qubit dephasing times can be improved if one can accelerate the dynamics of two-level fluctuators. We apply a semiclassical formalism where the qubit is treated with quantum mechanical concepts whereas the driving fields are classical. In the solution procedure, the numerical results support the main analytical understanding. As the theoretical results are extensively compared to reflection measurements, we construct an explicit connection between the dynamics of the studied quantum devices and the measured reflection coefficient.

Les systèmes de télécommunication de type radio logicielle ou "Software Defined Radio" (SDR) exploitent les techniques numériques qui permettent leur reconfigurabilité, que ce soit en termes de fréquence, de bande passante utilisée, ou de méthode de modulation/démodulation des signaux. Ceux-ci nécessitent des architectures permettant la numérisation des signaux analogiques RF à des fréquences d'échantillonnage de plusieurs dizaines de GHz, avec des bandes passantes de plusieurs dizaines de MHz et une résolution supérieure à 10 bits. Ces objectifs sont très difficiles à atteindre avec la technologie actuelle des semi-conducteurs. La logique à quantum de flux magnétique ou logique "Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum" (RSFQ) se présente comme un candidat séduisant pour la conception de tels systèmes.En effet, celle-ci permet d'atteindre des fréquences d'horloge de plusieurs centaines de GHz pour une consommation d'environ 100 nW par porte logique. Le travail de thèse a consisté en la réalisation d'un prototype de chaîne de réception RF analogique-numérique en technologie RSFQ. L'étude et la conception des différents blocs la constituant comme le convertisseur analogique-numérique et ceux de traitement du signal numérisé en aval a été réalisée. Les premiers résultats expérimentaux confirment la fonctionnalité des cellules RSFQ de base constituant le bloc de traitement numérique. La difficulté à faire fonctionner expérimentalement les blocs plus complexes a soulevé la question de la sensibilité des cellules RSFQ aux perturbations magnétiques extérieures. Cette problématique a été étudiée sur des circuits RSFQ simples et a permis de conclure qu'un champ magnétique externe de quelques dizaines de $mu$T était suffisant pour dégrader le fonctionnement de tels circuits. Une solution de prise en compte des effets d'un champ magnétique externe dans le simulateur utilisé a été développée pour anticiper ces problèmes dès la conception. Celle-ci a été validée expérimentalement avec un Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID). / Information and telecommunication Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems are mainly based on digital techniques, which enable to easily reconfigure them, in terms of frequency, bandwidth and modulation techniques. They can process the information entirely in a digital way, by directly sampling the input RF signal and require analog-to-digital converters with strong performances. Indeed, SDR systems have to work at sampling frequencies of several tens of GHz, with large bandwidths and a suitable resolution ($geq$ 10 bits). Rapid-Single-Flux-Quantum logic (RSFQ) seems to be an interesting solution to design such systems. This technology can reach clock frequencies of several hundreds of GHz with a power consumption of only 100 nW per logic gate. This work deals with the design of a superconductive RF front-end receiver based on RSFQ technology. The study of the different parts of the chain was done, such as the analog-to-digital converter and the signal processing part of the digital signal. Experimental results confirm that all simple RSFQ cells work with correct margins. Complex circuits work with more difficulty, raising the issue of the sensitivity of RSFQ cells to external magnetic disturbances. This point was studied on basic RSFQ cicuits and shows that a magnetic field of about 10 $mu$T is sufficient to spoil the operation of the circuit. Moreover, a solution to take into account magnetic effects in the simulation of the circuits was developed and experimentally validated on a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID).