Modulation instability of electromagnetic excitations in the nonlocal Josephson electrodynamics of thin magnetic superconducting films

The modulation instability of plane finite-amplitude nonlinear waves with the Josephson frequency is studied for a Josephson contact in thin nonmagnetic and magnetic (two-dimensional) superconducting films. Dispersion relations for the increments of small-amplitude perturbations are derived. Modulation instability is shown to develop in the finite range 0<Q<Q _b of the wavevectors of amplitude perturbations for the nonmagnetic films and for any perturbation wavevector 0<Q<∞ for the magnetic films.     

Chern-Simon potential in models of interaction of electromagnetic field with thin films

The proposed by Symanzik approach for the modeling of interaction of a macroscopic material body with quantum fields is considered. Its application in quantum electrodynamics enables one to establish the most general form of the action functional describing the interaction of 2-dimensional material surface with photon field. The models making it possible to calculate for thin films from non-ideal conducting material the Casimir energy, Casimir-Polder potential, characteristics of scattering processes and investigation of magneto- and electrostatic phenomena are presented. The specific of regularization and renormalization procedures used by calculations and the physical meaning of obtained results are discussed.     

String-like topological excitations of the electromagnetic field

In order to analyze the topological properties of an arbitrary configuration of the electromagnetic field, its strength F_μν is expressed in terms of new auxiliary fields which replace the gauge potential A_μ. These new fields have only physical singularities even in the presence of monopoles (no Dirac strings) and exhibit a new local O(1, 1) symmetry which replaces the gauge invariance. Boundary conditions on these fields may induce localized string-like singularities or topological defects which act as sources of magnetic field. A typical defect which emerges is a sort of tadpole formed by a non-quantized monopole attached to one or more magnetic strings of finite length. For topological reasons the total magnetic charge is quantized.     

Stability of thin polymer films on a corrugated substrate

We study the wetting behaviour of thin polystyrene (PS) films on regularly corrugated silicon substrates. Below a critical film thickness the PS films are unstable and dewet the substrates. The dewetting process leads to the formation of nanoscopic PS channels filling the grooves of the corrugated substrates. Films thicker than the critical thickness appear stable and follow the underlying corrugation pattern. The critical thickness is found to scale with the radius of gyration of the unperturbed polymer chains. Received 6 April 2000 and Received in final form 24 August 2000     

Trap characterization for Bi4Ti3O12 thin films by thermally stimulated currents

Thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements performed in the 100 K–400 K temperature range on Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ (BiT) thin films annealed at 550 °C and 700 °C had revealed two trapping levels having activation energies of 0.55 eV and 0.6 eV. The total trap concentration was estimated at 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for the samples annealed at 550 °C and 3×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for a 700 °C annealing and the trap capture cross-section was estimated about 10⁻¹⁸ cm². From the temperature dependence of the dark current in the temperature range 20 °C–120 °C the conduction mechanism activation energy was found to be about 0.956–0.978 eV. The electrical conductivity depends not only on the sample annealing temperature but also whether the measurement is performed in vacuum or air. The results on the dark conductivity are discussed considering the influence of oxygen atoms and oxygen vacancies. Received: 28 January 1998 / Accepted: 8 January 1999 / Published online: 5 May 1999     

Stabilization of electromagnetic solitons in thin films of topological insulators by constant electric field

We consider the propagation of a variable electromagnetic field in a thin film of a topological insulator in low temperatures case at the presence of electric field. As a result we obtain an effective equation on the vector-potential amplitude of a variable electromagnetic field. We also detect some solutions, corresponding to solitons in the case of a cosine-type dispersion law for electronic subsystem. Finally, we analysed how non-linear solutions depend on the parameters of the problem and on electrostatic field.     

Electrical properties of thermally evaporated nickel-dimethylglyoxime thin films

Thin Bis-(dimethylglyoximato)nickel(II) [Ni(DMG)₂] films of amorphous and crystalline structures were prepared by vacuum deposition on Si (P) substrates. The films were characterised by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The constructed Al/Ni(DMG)₂/Si(P) metal-insulator-semiconductor devices were characterised by the measurement of the gate-voltage dependence of their capacitance and ac conductance, from which the surface states density D_it of insulator/semiconductor interface and the density of the fixed charges in the oxide were determined. The ac electrical conduction and dielectric properties of the Ni(DMG)₂-Silicon structure were studied at room temperature. The data of the ac measurements of the annealed films follow the correlated barrier-hopping CBH mode, from which the fundamental absorption bandgap, the minimum hopping distance, and other parameters of the model were determined.     

Study of the mechanical interaction between an electromagnetic field and a nanoscopic thin film near electronic resonance

The mechanical interaction between an electromagnetic field and a nanoscopic thin film near electronic resonance is theoretically studied by calculation of Maxwell's stress tensor. As a result of numerical demonstrations for both propagating and evanescent incident waves, the following effects that are specific to this condition have been clarified: (1) The force exerted on a nanoscopic thin film is greatly enhanced near the resonance frequency to the same order of magnitude as for a film with macroscopic thickness. (2) The peak position of the gradient force in its spectrum is highly sensitive to the change in nanoscopic thickness that is due to the polaritonic effect. (3) In a total-reflection region a large enhancement of the repulsive force between the two thin films occurs when the films act as an optical cavity.     

Scanning near field thermal microscopy on a micromachined thin membrane

A resistive probe based scanning thermal microscope (SThM) has been used to perform complementary near field thermal measurements on the surface of a thin semiconductor membrane. This thin structure is part of a micromachined thermal rf power sensor and includes an integrated resistive heater used as an absorbing element for the input power. The resulting 2D surface temperature distribution and the 2D thermal wave propagation characteristic were determined. Considering the thermal wave behaviour at near field conditions, the local thermal conductivity of the thin membrane and the surrounding bulk material was investigated by usage of the 3ω-method.     

Ordered ultra thin ZnO films on metal substrate

Ultra thin ZnO films were prepared on metal Mo(1 1 0) substrate under ultrahigh vacuum conditions either by depositing Zn in 10⁻⁵ Pa oxygen or by oxidizing pre-deposited Zn films. The films were characterized in situ by various surface analytical techniques, including Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies, low energy electron diffraction and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. The results indicate that a long-range ordered and stoichiometric ZnO films are formed along its [0 0 0 1] direction. The annealing experiments show that as-prepared ZnO films are thermal stable until 800 K. This study provides constructive information to further understand the growth mechanism of ZnO films on different substrates.     

Nonlocal Josephson electrodynamics of electromagnetic excitations in a superconducting magnetic (three-dimensional) thin film

The integro-differential equation for the dynamics of the phase difference with temporal and spatial nonlocality for a Josephson junction in a superconducting three-dimensional magnetic thin film is derived. The equation is valid for any type of magnetic ordering. The magnetic subsystem is shown to significantly renormalize the spectrum of small-amplitude electromagnetic excitations, which, as a result, are damped.     

Passive amplification of the pyroelectric current in thin films on a heat-conducting substrate

We show both theoretically and experimentally that passive amplification of the pyroelectric current takes place when modulated radiation is recorded by a pyroelectric detector in some range of modulation frequencies. The amplification effect manifests itself in the fact that the current generated by a thin pyroelectric film lying on a massive heat-conducting substrate exceeds that in a freely suspended film. We use a ferroelectric 70:30 P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer, a crystalline guanidine pyroelectric, and a 70:30 composition of an achiral liquid-crystal polymer and its monomer PM6R14n-M6R14n to illustrate the frequency dependence of the pyroelectric current.     

Structural and optical properties of thermally evaporated thin films

Chalcogenide glass Se₅₅Ge₃₀As₁₅ have amorphous structure in both as-deposited and annealed conditions. The optical properties of the as-deposited and annealed films were studied using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance, T(λ), and reflectance, R(λ), at normal incidence of light in the wavelength range 200–2500 nm. Neither annealing temperature nor film thickness can influence spectral response on refractive index and absorption index of films. The type of electronic transition responsible for optical properties is indirectly allowed transition with energy gap of 1.94 eV and phonon energy of 40 meV. The dispersion of the refractive index is discussed in terms of the single oscillator Wemple–Didomenico (WD) model. The width of band tails of localized states into the gap (ΔE), the single oscillator energy (E_o), the dispersion energy (E_d), the optical dielectric constant (ε_∞), the lattice dielectric constant (ε_L), the plasma frequency (ω_p) and the free charge carrier concentration (N) were estimated.     

Change in the electromagnetic field frequency because of stimulated radiation in a medium

The spectrum of a two-photon electromagnetic field in a transparent dispersing medium consists of three branches. Excitation of the secondary branches of the spectrum implies a change in the electromagnetic field frequency during passage through a medium of finite size if excited impurity atoms are present.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 65–69, May, 1982.I am grateful to the participants of the seminar supervised by V. L. Bonch-Bruevich for favorable remarks.     

High field superconductivity in thin films

Thin films provide an ideal means for studying the role of spin paramagnetism in the theory of superconductivity. A review is given of the theoretical and experimental work available until now with respect to this problem. It includes a study of the excitation spectrum of thin films in a parallel magnetic field and the experimental evidence of Zeeman splitting of superconducting quasiparticles. The role of spin-orbit interaction is discussed in detail. The application of spin selective tunnelling is shown. Furthermore, it includes a study of the order of phase transition between the normal state and the paramagnetically limited superconducting state. A detailed discussion is given of the generalized Ginzburg-Landau equation including numerical evaluations. The applicability of Tinkham's formula is discussed, which is relevant for the determination of critical fields of arbitrary orientations to the film. Finally, account is given of the work which deals with the influence of spin paramagnetism on superconducting fluctuations. Recent experimental and theoretical work is described and discussed.     

Laser induced thermal profiles in thermally and optically thin films

The temperature field generated by the weak absorption of a gaussian laser beam in an optically and thermally thin film bounded by two transparent plates is discussed. An analytical solution of the problem is presented together with an algorithm for the numerical integration. The influence of the finite thermal conductivity of the plates is shown in an example.     

Effect of a magnetic field on thermally stimulated ionization of impurity centers in semiconductors by submillimeter radiation

The probability of electron tunneling from a bound state into a free state in crossed ac electric and dc magnetic fields is calculated in the quasiclassical approximation. It is shown that a magnetic field decreases the electron tunneling probability. This decreases the probability of thermally activated ionization of deep impurity centers by submillimeter radiation. The logarithm of the ionization probability is a linear function of the squared amplitude of the electric field and increases rapidly with the frequency of the electric field.     

Modulation instability of electromagnetic excitations in nonlocal Josephson electrodynamics of thin films of nonmagnetic and magnetic (two-and three-dimensional) superconductors

Modulation instability of nonlinear electromagnetic excitations (oscillating with the Josephson frequency) of finite amplitude is investigated in a Josephson junction in a film of a nonmagnetic, as well as of a magnetic (two-or three-dimensional), superconductor. The instability is accompanied by a nonlinear shift in frequency. Dispersion relations are derived for the time increment of small perturbations of the amplitude. It is shown that, for this type of excitations in a Josephson junction in a thin film of nonmagnetic superconductor, modulation instability develops only in a certain finite range of wave vectors, whereas in a thin film of a two-or three-dimensional magnetic superconductor it develops for any wave vector.