Noise Behaviour of a THz Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixer

A quasi-optical superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer （HEB） mixer is measured in the frequency range of 0.5-2.5 THz for understanding of the frequency dependence of noise temperature of THz coherent detectors. It has been found that noise temperature increasing with frequency is mainly due to the coupling loss between the quasioptical planar antenna and the superconducting HEB bridge when taking account of non-uniform distribution of high-frequency current. With the coupling loss corrected, the superconducting HEB mixer demonstrates a noise temperature nearly independent of frequency.     

Analysis of force characteristics of a superconducting ball in a given magnetic field

The electromagnetic force characteristics along Z direction of a superconducting ball levitated by spherical coils with shaping blocks are calculated based on a semi-analytical method. The calculating results from the semi-analytical method are compared with the finite element analysis (FEA) method through a calculation example. The method can be applied to further analysis of dynamic characteristics and parameter optimization in the suspension system.     

Impedance measurement technique for quantum systems

The impedance measurement technique consists in that the phase-dependent (parametric) inductance of the system is probed by the classical tank circuit via measuring the voltage. The notion of the parametric inductance for the impedance measurement technique is revisited for the case when a quantum system is probed. Measurement of the quantum state of the system of superconducting circuits (qubits) is studied theoretically. It is shown that the result of the measurement is defined by the partial energy levels population in the qubits and by its derivative.     

Detection of magnetic nanoparticles with magnetoencephalography

Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) have been widely utilized in biomedical applications due to their extremely high sensitivity to magnetic signals. The present study explores the feasibility of a new type of nanotechnology-based imaging method using standard clinical magnetoencephalographic (MEG) systems equipped with SQUID sensors. Previous studies have shown that biological targets labeled with non-toxic, magnetized nanoparticles can be imaged by measuring the magnetic field generated by these particles. In this work, we demonstrate that (1) the magnetic signals from certain nanoparticles can be detected without magnetization using standard clinical MEG, (2) for some types of nanoparticles, only bound particles produce detectable signals, and (3) the magnetic field of particles several hours after magnetization is significantly stronger than that of un-magnetized particles. These findings hold promise in facilitating the potential application of magnetic nanoparticles to in vivo tumor imaging. The minimum amount of nanoparticles that produce detectable signals is predicted by theoretical modeling and computer simulation.     

Determination of Relaxation Time of a Josephson Tunnel Junction

We propose a non-stationary method to measure the energy relaxation time of Josephson tunnel junctions from microwave enhanced escape phenomena. Compared with the previous methods, our method possesses simple and accurate features. Moreover, having determined the energy relaxation time, we can further obtain the coupling strength between the microwave source and the junction by changing the microwave power.     

Twin Junctions in Monoclinic Zirconia

Analysis of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images of the microstructure of monoclinic zirconia film has revealed that some areas are built entirely of twins. Twin boundaries form triple and quadruple junctions. While the misorientations of the constituent boundaries are completely balanced at quadruple junctions, there is a small rotational mismatch at the junctions of three twin boundaries. This mismatch is compensated by wedge disclinations. Crystallography of the triple junctions is considered and factors stabilizing intrinsic junction disclinations are discussed.     

Mutual inductance effects in rf driven planar Josephson junctions arrays

In this paper we investigate the behavior of moderate size two-dimensional classical arrays of Josephson junctions in presence of an external oscillating field. We have included in the model the effects due to mutual inductance terms, and we have employed an explicit set of differential equations. We have found that the discretization parameter - i.e. the coupling term due to the inductance of the loops - is the most important parameter to determine the height of the Shapiro steps for a given amplitude and frequency of the rf-bias. The amplitude of the Shapiro steps in the case of zero frustration as a function of the coupling term shows a remarkable minimum for intermediate values when we retain all terms of the full model with mutual inductances, while the limits for very large and very small values of they are the same of the single Josephson junction. For the case of frustration 1/2 the Shapiro step becomes smaller in the rigid limit (i.e., small ) as expected for the XY model, and tends to the limit value of the single junctions for the decoupled case (i.e., large ). Received 9 November 1998 and Received in final form 6 April 1999     

The secondary-electron yield of air-exposed metal surfaces

The secondary-electron-yield (SEY) variation of atomically clean metal surfaces due to air exposure and during subsequent heat treatments is described. As an example SEY results are presented for the case of a sputter-deposited Nb thin film. Corresponding variations in the surface chemical composition have been monitored using AES and SSIMS. On the basis of these results, and of previously obtained SEY results for metals and metal oxides, the origin of the SEY variations is discussed. The SEY increase, which is generally observed during long-lasting air exposure of clean metals, is mainly caused by the adsorption of an airborne carbonaceous contamination layer. The estimated value of about three for the maximum SEY of this layer is higher than that of all pure metals. Only in some cases can the air-formed oxide contribute to the air-exposure-induced SEY increase, while many oxides have a lower SEY than their parent metals. From the experimental data it can also be excluded that the SEY increase during air exposure is mainly due to an increased secondary-electron escape probability. Received: 17 June 2002 / Accepted: 25 June 2002 / Published online: 15 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +41-22/767-9150, Email: Christian.Scheuerlein@cern.ch     

Measurement of the magnetic moment in a cold worked 304 stainless steel using HTS SQUID

The magnetic properties of stainless steel have been investigated using a radio frequency (RF) high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device)-based susceptometer. The nuclear grade 304 stainless steel is nonmagnetic at a normal condition but it changes to a partially ferromagnetic state associated with martensitic transformation under a plastic deformation. The magnetic moment of the 304 stainless steels was increased with an increasing cold work rate, and decreased with an increasing annealing temperature. The change of mechanical properties such as yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) are also analyzed in terms of deformation-induced martensitic transformation.     

Demonstration of a recombined Fabry-Perot-Michelson interferometer with suspended mirrors

We describe preliminary experimental results concerning the operation of a 3 m arm-length Michelson interferometer with two Fabry-Perot cavities whose mirrors and beam splitter are suspended independently by wires. The reflected light beams from the two Fabry-Perot cavities are recombined to obtain interference at a photo-detector; this scheme is necessary for future power-recycled laser interferometers used to detect gravitational waves. The fundamental properties of the interferometer are presented, including the power spectral density of the displacement noise.     

Intracavity spectroscopy with modulated multimode lasers

The output of a cw multimode dye laser with an intracavity narrow-band absorber and its pump power modulated shows spectral condensation on both wings of the absorption line. This indicates phase locking of two groups of laser modes. The dispersion of the absorber modifies the mode spacing of the laser such that mode groups on both sides of the absorption line get into resonance with the modulation. These mode groups feel smaller loss and acquire the total laser power. Spectra of the laser output reveal the total absorption coefficient, the homogeneous broadening of the absorber, and the spectral width of individual laser modes.On leave from Lebedev Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, SU-117924 Moscow, USSR     

Voltage–current characteristics and current instability conditions of a high-temperature superconductor in non-uniform temperature distribution

The influence of non-uniform temperature distribution in the cross section of a high-temperature superconductor (thermal size effect) on its voltage–current characteristic and the instability conditions of charged current is investigated. The boundary values of the electric field and the current above which the charged current is unstable are defined taking into account the size effect. It is shown that the calculated current of the instability determining the maximum allowable value of the charged current is reduced, if the thermal heterogeneity of the electrodynamics states is taken into consideration in the theoretical analysis of the stability conditions. As a result, the limiting stable values of the electric field and current depend nonlinearly on the thickness of the superconductor, its critical properties as well as on the external cooling conditions. Therefore, the current of instability will not increase proportionally to the increase in the thickness of superconductor or its critical current density at the intensive cooling conditions.     

Distributed Measurement of Birefringence by P-OTDR Assisted with Piezoelectric Polarization Controller

We propose a new polarization sensitive optical time domain reflectometry （P-OTDR） setup assisted with a piezoelectric polarization controller （PPC）. The input state of polarization can be changed by varying the voltage of PPC without any rotatable instrument, and only one optical receiver is used to detect the backward beam. We measure a single mode fibre and get the distribution of birefringence along the SMF.     

Scalable quantum computing with Josephson charge-phase qubits inside a cavity

This Letter proposes a theoretical scheme for scalable quantum computing with charge-phase qubits inside a common cavity. Individually addressing the applied gate pulses, we obtain the switchable interqubit couplings mediated by the cavity mode, from which a universal set of logic gates can be constructed. In our scheme the interqubit couplings are completely feasible to perform conditional gates, and the classical microwaves cause negligible leakage errors.     

Holonomic quantum computation with superconducting charge-phase qubits in a cavity

We theoretically propose a feasible scheme to realize holonomic quantum computation with charge-phase qubits placed in a microwave cavity. By appropriately adjusting the controllable parameters, each charge-phase qubit is set as an effective four-level subsystem, based on which a universal set of holonomic quantum gates can be realized. Further analysis shows that our system is robust to the first-order fluctuation of the gate charges, and the intrinsic leakages between energy levels can be ignored.     

Distinguishing between dark matter and pulsar origins of the ATIC electron spectrum with atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes

Recent results from the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) balloon experiment have identified the presence of a spectral feature between approximately 300 and 800 GeV in the cosmic ray electron spectrum. This spectral feature appears to imply the existence of a local (1 kpc) source of high energy electrons. Emission from a local pulsar and dark matter annihilations have each been put forth as possible origins of this signal. In this Letter, we consider the sensitivity of ground based atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes to electrons and show that observatories such as HESS and VERITAS should be able to resolve this feature with sufficient precision to discriminate between the dark matter and pulsar hypotheses with considerably greater than 5σ significance, even for conservative assumptions regarding their performance. In addition, this feature provides an opportunity to perform an absolute calibration of the energy scale of ground based, gamma ray telescopes.     

Planar microwave biased RF-SQUIDs in niobium technology

A planar version of microwave biased SQUIDs is described. In this type of SQUID, a superconducting half-wavelength microstrip resonator serves as tank circuit, into which the SQUID is integrated. For evaluation of this type of SQUID, samples were prepared from thin Nb films on sapphire substrates, using tunnel junctions as Josephson elements. When operated in hysteretic mode, signal voltages of up to 80 V were achieved, corresponding to a flux noise of 4×10^–6 ₀/Hz and an energy resolution of 2×10^–31 J/Hz.     

Quantum computing in decoherence-free subspaces with superconducting charge qubits

Taking into account the main noises in superconducting charge qubits (SCQs), we propose a feasible scheme to realize quantum computing (QC) in a specially-designed decoherence-free subspace (DFS). In our scheme two physical qubits are connected with a common inductance to form a strong coupling subsystem, which acts as a logical qubit. Benefiting from the well-designed DFS, our scheme is helpful to suppress certain decoherence effects.     

Preparation of W State with Superconducting Quantum-Interference Devices in a Cavity via Adiabatic Passage

We propose an alternative scheme to prepare W state by using superconducting quantum-interference devices （SQUIDs） coupled to a largely-detuned cavity. The present scheme is based on evolution by adiabatic passage, where only by tuning adiabatically the Rabi frequencies of the classical microwave pulses we can obtain the standard W state without measurement or any auxiliary SQUIDs. Thus the procedure is simplified and the scheme can be achieved with very high success probability since the errors in dynamical or geometric ways can be avoided. In addition, the SQUID system and the cavity have no probability of being excited state. Thus decoherence caused by the excited-level spontaneous emission or the cavity decay is suppressed.