Akademisk avhandling--Stockholm, 1993. / Résumé en anglais. Bibliogr. p. 192-206. Index.

This thesis details recent work on an innovative new approach to Josephson junction fabrication. These junctions are created in low TC superconductor-normal metal bilayer tracks on a deep submicron scale using a Focused Ion Beam Microscope (FIB). The FIB is used to mill away a trench 50_nm wide in the upper layer of niobium superconductor (125 nm thick), weakening the superconducting coupling and resulting in a Josephson junction. With the aid of a newly developed in situ resistance measurement technique it is possible to determine the cut depth to a high degree of accuracy and hence gain insight into how this affects the resulting device parameters. Devices fabricated over a wide range of cut depths and copper normal metal layer thicknesses (0-175 nm) have been thoroughly characterized at 4.2 K in terms of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, magnetic field- and microwave-response. In selected cases I-V characteristics have been studied over the full temperature range from TC down to 300 mK. Devices with resistively-shunted (RSJ) I-V characteristics and ICRN products above 50 μV at 4.2 K have been fabricated reproducibly. This work has been complemented by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) studies that have allowed the microstructure of the individual devices to be inspected and confirm the validity of the in situ resistance measurement. The individual junction devices are promising candidates for use in the next generation of Josephson voltage standards. In collaboration with Dr. Sam Benz at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S., series arrays of junctions have been fabricated and characterized. Phase-locking behaviour has been observed in arrays of 10 junctions of spacings 0.2 to 1.6 μm between 4.2 K and TC in spite of the relatively large spread in individual critical currents. Strategies for minimizing junction parameter spread and producing large-scale arrays are discussed. The opportunities offered by the FIB for the creation of novel device structures has not been overlooked. By milling a circular trench in the Nb Cu bilayer a Corbino geometry SNS junction is created. In this unique device the junction barrier is enclosed in a superconducting loop, implying that magnetic flux can only enter the barrier as quantized vorticies. This gives rise to a startling magnetic field response - with the entry of a vortex the critical current is suppressed from its maximum value to zero. Experimental results and theoretical modeling are reported. Possible future applications of this novel device geometry (which may be of relevance to Quantum Computing and to studies of Berry's phase effects) are considered.

Orientador: Sergio Moehlecke / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T03:17:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ParedesCampoy_JuanCarlos_D.pdf: 9988579 bytes, checksum: a03458e18610ae7fb0c32db554e968e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001 / Resumo: Neste trabalho de tese de doutorado estudamos a dinâmica de vórtices Josephson ( JV) e panquecas de vórtices Abrikosov ( PV) em monocristais supercondutores de Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 Bi(2212) e também o possível ferromagnetismo em compostos supercondutores A -15: Nb- Pt. Estudamos o desancoramento anômalo de vórtices Josephson no Bi(2212) por susceptibilidade ac com o campo magnético dc aplicado paralelo aos planos de CUO2. Devido à dependência com a frequência observada nesta anomalia calculamos a energia de ativação efetiva UJv(H) dos vórtices Josephson, que incrementa-se em forma de degraus com o aumento do campo magnético dc. Pelo contrário, a energia de ativaçao dos vórtices Abrikosov Upv(H) decresce com o campo. Analisamos estes resultados apoiados nas teorias já existentes e sugerimos a ocorrência de transformações na estrutura na rede dos vórtices induzidas pelo campo magnético aplicado. Estudamos por magnetização dc, susceptibilidade ac e propriedades de transporte o possível ferromagnetismo em compostos supercondutores A -15 : Nb -Pt. Surpreendentemente, as medidas de magnetização M(H) nestes compostos mostraram um comportamento ferromagnético, inédito por si. Após o tratamento térmico de 900°C /10 dias (10-5Torr) que ordena os átomos de Nb em três cadeias perpendiculares entre si na estrutura A -15, M(H) diminui até uma ordem de grandeza. Acreditamos que este comportamento ferro magnético esteja associado com a desordem dos átomos de Nb no composto e sugerimos que sua origem seja devida a ferromagnetismo de elétrons itinerantes do Nb -Pt / Abstract: We have studied the dynamics of Josephson vortices ( JV) and Abrikosov pancake vortices (PV) in Bi2Sr2CaCu208 Bi(2212) superconducting single crysta1s and a1so the possibility of ferromagnetism in A -15 : Nb -Pt superconducting compounds. The anomalous depinning of Josephson interlayer vortices in Bi2Sr2CaCu208 high -Tc superconductors occurring at nearly field-independent temperature Tx =20 -40 K has been studied by means of ac susceptibility measurements with magnetic field applied parallel to CUO2 planes. From the frequency dependence Tx ( v) we define the flux creep activation energy for Josephson vortices UJv(H) which increases with field and shows well-defined plateaus. In contrast, the activation energy of in-plane pancake vortices Upv(H) decreases with field, i.e., demostrates a qualitatively different behaviour. We have analised these results and we suggested a ocurrence of vortex structure tranformations induced by the applied magnetic field. A possible existence of ferromagnetism in A -15 : Nb -Pt superconducting compounds was studied by means of magnetization, susceptibility and transport measurements. Surprisingly, the magnetization M(H) showed a ferromagnetic behaviour. After annea1ing at 900°C /10 days (10-5Torr) wich orders the Nb atoms in three mutually perpendicular chains into the A -15 structure, M(H) diminished approximately by a factor of 10. We believe that this ferromagnetic behavior is associated to atomic disorder and we suggest an itinerant electron mecanism as the possible origin of this ferromagnetism / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

Dans les année récentes, les systèmes d'atomes froids ont été reconnus comme des outils prometteurs pour réaliser des simulateurs quantiques, ainsi que pour différentes applications en information quantique. Parmi eux notamment la jonction Josephson bosonique, un système de bosons ultrafroids dilués pouvant occuper deux modes, a été employée pour réaliser un interféromètre atomique, qui a permi d'estimer un déphasage avec une précision dépassant la limite classique. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions d'un point de vue théorique la production, la détection et la décohérence d'états intriqués qui peuvent être utilisés pour l'interférométrie de haute précision dans une jonction Josephson bosonique. Parmi ces états quantiques utiles se trouvent les états comprimés et les superpositions macroscopiques d'états cohérents. Dans la première du manuscrit, nous démontrons que les superpositions macroscopiques d'états cohérents peuvent être créées pendant la dynamique qui suit un arrêt soudain du couplage entre les deux modes de la jonction, puis nous étudions des protocoles de détection expérimentale. Il existe inévitablement dans chaque expérience des sources de bruit, les principaux étant le bruit de phase, induit par des fluctuations des énergies des deux modes, et la perte d'atomes. La présence de bruit induit de la décohérence et dégrade les corrélations quantiques des états manipulés. Dans la deuxième partie du manuscrit nous analysons en détail la façon dont les corrélations quantiques utiles des états comprimés et des superpositions macroscopiques sont dégradées par le bruit de phase. Nous montrons que, pour des intensités de bruit modérées, les superpositions d'états cohérents à plusieurs composantes sont des candidats intéressantes pour l'interférométrie de précision. Enfin, nous étudions l'effet de la perte d'atomes sur la formation des superpositions macroscopiques, en montrant comment la décohérence agit sur la matrice densité du système / In recent years, cold atomic systems have been recognized as very promising tools for quantum simulators and for applications in quantum technology. In particular, a Bose Josephson junction (BJJ) - a system of ultracold dilute bosons which can occupy two modes - has been used to realize an atomic interferometer, allowing to estimate a phase shift with a precision beyond the classical limit. In this thesis we study theoretically the production, detection and decoherence of entangled states which can be used for high-precision interferometry in a Bose Josephson junction. Among such useful quantum states are atomic squeezed states and macroscopic superpositions of coherent states. In the first part of the thesis, after demonstrating that macroscopic superpositions of coherent states can be created during the dynamics following a "quench" of the coupling between the two modes of the junction, we study protocols for their experimental detection. In the experiments there are unavoidable sources of noise, the major sources being phase noise, induced by stochastic fluctuations of the energies of the two modes of the BJJ, and particle losses. The presence of noise induces decoherence and degrades the quantum correlations of these states. In the second part of the thesis we analyze in detail how the useful quantum correlations of squeezed states and macroscopic superpositions are degraded by phase noise. We show that for moderate phase noise intensities multicomponent superpositions of coherent states are interesting candidates for high-precision atom interferometry. Finally, we address the effect of atom losses on the formation of macroscopic superpositions, showing how decoherence affects the system density matrix.

published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

Orientadores: Amir Ordacgi Caldeira, Newton Cesário Frateschi / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T06:59:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_FelipeGustavodaSilva_M.pdf: 5201395 bytes, checksum: aa675cbe9765e61acda958aff38d1a42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Dispositivos baseados em junções Josephson tem desempenhado um papel importante tanto em ciências básicas quanto aplicadas. Neste trabalho, descrevemos a fabricação e caracterização DC de junções Josephson do tipo ScS (superconductor-constrição-supercondutor). Os dispositivos exibem uma característica VI que concorda com o bem conhecido modelo RSJ (resistência nula abaixo de uma corrente crítica mas constante e não nula acima dessa corrente) para temperaturas ~ 2 K. Para temperaturas um pouco maiores, observamos vários estados resistivos na curva VI, os quais são tipicamente atribuídos ao fluxo de vórtices de Abrikosov no interior da constrição. As medidas, porém, também sugerem que este pode não ser o caso nesses dispositivos devido à pequena magnitude do campo magnético autoinduzido na constrição, se comparado aos campos típicos que a levariam ao estado misto / Abstract: Josephson junction devices have played a role in fundamental and applied sciences. In this work, we report the fabrication and DC characterization of niobium Josephson junctions of the ScS (superconductor-constriction-superconductor) type. The devices exhibit a VI characteristic in accordance with the well known RSJ model (vanishing resistance below a critical current and constant nonzero resistance above it) for temperatures ~ 2 K. For slightly higher temperatures, we observe several resistive states in the VI curve which are usually attributed to the flow of Abrikosov vortices within the constriction. Our measurements, however, suggest that this might not be the case in these devices due to the smallness of the self-induced magnetic field in the constriction in comparison with the typical fields which drive it into the mixed state / Mestrado / Física / Mestre em Física

Cette thèse décrit la fabrication de systèmes hybrides basés sur le semi-conducteur InAs et leur étude par spectroscopie STM et la mesure de jonctions Josephson. Dans une première expérience, je montre que des nanocristaux (NC) de plomb (Pb) supraconducteurs de haute qualité peuvent être réalisés sur la surface (110) d'InAs. Lorsque la taille latérale des NC est inférieure à la longueur d'onde de Fermi du gaz d'électrons bidimensionnel accumulé à la surface de InAs, les NC ne sont que faiblement couplés à ce gaz électronique et se retrouvent donc dans le régime de blocage de Coulomb. Ce phénomène a permis la première étude de l'effet de parité supraconducteur par spectroscopie STM, que nous avons utilisée pour vérifier la validité de la limite d'Anderson. Dans une seconde expérience, je montre que des NC de Bismuth (Bi) de haute qualité peuvent également être réalisés sur la surface (110) d'InAs. Contrairement aux NC de Pb, une couche de mouillage de Bi sépare les NC de la surface InAs, conduisant à un fort couplage entre les NC de Bi et le substrat. A partir de la spectroscopie STM, nous avons identifié des états de bord sur le plan (111) des NC avec une symétrie C3. En supposant que le bismuth est un isolant topologique de second ordre comme suggéré théoriquement, les états de bords observés peuvent être interprétés naturellement comme les états de charnière prédits dans cette dernière théorie de bande topologique. / This thesis describes the fabrication of hybrid systems based on the narrow-gap semiconductor InAs and their study through STM spectroscopy and measure of the Josephson characteristics. In the first experiment, I show that high quality superconducting Lead (Pb) nanocrystals can be grown on the (110) surface of InAs. When the lateral size of the Pb nanocrystals is smaller than the Fermi wavelength of the two-dimensional electron gas accumulated at the surface of InAs, the nanocrystals are only weakly coupled to this electron gas and, consequently, are found in the regime of Coulomb blockade. This phenomenon enabled the first study of the superconducting parity effect through STM spectroscopy, which we employed to check the validity of the Anderson limit. In the second experiment, I show that high quality Bismuth (Bi) nanocrystals can also be grown on the (110) surface of InAs. In contrast to Pb nanocrystals, a wetting layer of Bi separates the nanocrystals from the InAs surface, leading to a strong coupling between the Bi nanocrystals and the substrate. From STM spectroscopy, we have identified edge-states on the (111) plane of the nanocrystals with C3 symmetry. Assuming that Bismuth is a 2nd order topological insulator as suggested theoretically, the observed edge-states can be interpreted naturally as the hinge-states predicted in this last topological band-theory. Finally, I will present the methods that I developed for the fabrication of hybrid Josephson junctions on bulk InAs and InAs/GaSb heterostructures, together with preliminary measurements of Josephson characteristics.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / As the search for ever-higher-speed, greater-density, and lower-power technologies accelerates, so does the quest for devices and methodologies to fulfill the increasingly-difficult requirements for these technologies. A possible means by which this may be accomplished is to utilize superconducting devices and graphene nanoribbon nanotechnologies. This is because superconductors are ultra-low-power devices capable of generating extremely high frequency (EHF) signals, and graphene nanoribbons are nanoscale devices capable of extremely high-speed and low-power signal amplification due to their high-mobility/low-resistance channels and geometry-dependent bandgap structure. While such a hybrid co-integrated system seems possible, no process by which this may be accomplished has yet been proposed. In this thesis, the system limitations are explored in-depth, and several possible means by which superconducting and graphene nanotechnological systems may be united are proposed, with the focus being placed on the simplest method by which the technologies may be hybridized and integrated together, while maintaining control over the intended system behavior. This is accomplished in three parts. First, via circuit-level simulation, a semi-optimized, low-power (~0.21 mW/stage) graphene-based amplifier is developed using ideal and simplified transmission line properties. This system is theoretically capable of 159-269 GHz bandwidth with a Stern stability K >> 1 and low noise figure 2.97 <= F <= 4.33 dB for all appropriate frequencies at temperatures between 77 and 90 K. Second, an investigation of the behavior of several types of possible interconnect methodologies is performed, utilizing hybrid substrates and material interfaces/junctions, demonstrating that an Ohmic-contact superconducting-normal transmission line is optimal for a hybrid system with self-reflections at less than -25 dB over an operating range of 300 GHz. Finally, a unified layout and lithography construction process is proposed by which such a hybrid system could be developed in a monolithic physical system on a hybrid substrate while maintaining material and layout integrity under varying process temperatures.

published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy