宏观共振隧穿的新进展及其在量子信息处理中的应用(英文)

从量子力学诞生以来,关于宏观物体的运动是否遵循量子力学的辩论就一直没有停止过。上世纪八十年代初期以来,一系列在约瑟夫森结和超导量子干涉器件(SQUID)中观测到的实验结果,包括相位和磁通的宏观量子隧穿,能级量子化,宏观共振隧穿,和在微波驱动下的相干动力学过程对认为宏观物体的运动在满足一定条件下同样遵循量子力学规律的观点提供了强有力的实验证据。在众多已观察到的宏观量子现象中,宏观共振隧穿结合了能级分立和隧穿这两个最具特征的量子现象。由于宏观共振隧穿的观测无需使用高频电磁波激发,这就避免了实验结果也可以用经典物理解释的可能,所以在一个系统中观测到宏观共振隧穿可以说是展示该系统的量子属性的最有力证据。本文讨论近年来从理论和实验两方面理解耗散和磁通噪声对类似SQUID的双势阱系统宏观共振隧穿率和谱线形状的影响。评述宏观共振隧穿谱的测量在探寻、理解、克服超导磁通量子比特中的退相干机制并最终实现规模化量子计算方面的应用。     

宏观共振隧穿的新进展及其在量子信息处理中的应用

从量子力学诞生以来,关于宏观物体的运动是否遵循量子力学的辩论就一直没有停止过.上世纪八十年代初期以来,一系列在约瑟夫森结和超导最子干涉器件(SQUID)中观测到的实验结果,包括相位和磁通的宏观量子隧穿,能级量子化,宏观共振隧穿,和在微波驱动下的相干动力学过程对认为宏观物体的运动在满足一定条件下同样遵循量子力学规律的观点提供了强有力的实验证据.在众多已观察到的宏观量子现象中,宏观共振隧穿结合了能级分立和隧穿这两个最具特征的量子现象.由于宏观共振隧穿的观测无需使用高频电磁波激发,这就避免了实验结果也可以用经典物理解释的可能,所以在一个系统中观测到宏观共振隧穿可以说是展示该系统的量子属性的最有力证据.本文讨论近年来从理论和实验两方面理解耗散和磁通噪声对类似SQUID的双势阱系统宏观共振隧穿率和谱线形状的影响.评述宏观共振隧穿谱的测量在探寻、理解、克服超导磁通量子比特中的退相干机制并最终实现规模化量子计算方面的应用.     

玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体在光势阱中的量子隧穿

微观粒子因具有波动性而能以一定的概率穿过比它动能更高的势垒，这一现象称为隧道效应，玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体在不同的囚禁势阱中表现出不同的隧穿特性，文章作者用周期瞬子方法首次研究了光势阱中玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的量子隧穿，研究表明，处在光势阱中的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体不仅表现出Landau-Zenner隧穿，而且出现新的Wannier-Stark隧穿，Wannier-Stark隧穿系数大约是Landu-Zener隧穿系数的1000倍，并得到了隧穿率随温度的变化规律，包括经典热激活、热助隧穿和量子隧穿，理论的计算结果与Yale大学和意大利INFM研究组关于Landau-Zener隧穿的实验结果相符合，同时给出了如何在实验上发现Wannier-Stark隧穿的参数区间。     

本征约瑟夫森结跳变电流分布的量子修正

在约瑟夫森结跳变电流统计分布的理论拟合过程中,通常考虑的是宏观量子隧穿与热激活这两种过程. 对Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ表面本征约瑟夫森结的结果分析表明,在宏观量子隧穿与热激活的交界区域内,若考虑量子修正能使实验曲线与理论曲线符合得更好. 这种较为完整的拟合方法,对研究本征约瑟夫森器件中的宏观量子现象及其在超导量子比特中的应用具有积极的意义. 关键词： 约瑟夫森结 跳变电流分布 量子修正     

阶梯电压下量子环的动力学性质

利用非平衡格林函数方法,研究了一维量子环的动力学特性.量子环中通过恒定的磁通,并通过单根导线与电子库连接.考虑瞬时改变库的势（阶梯电压）,导线与环间有含时的隧穿电流.提出一种数值方法计算有阶梯电压体系的电导,结果说明遂穿电流特性能够反映量子环中电子能谱结构. 关键词： 量子环 遂穿电流 电子能谱     

高温超导体中磁通涡旋的量子隧道效应——TlBaCaCuO化合物磁弛豫的实验研究

本文报道了ＴｌＢａＣａＣｕＯ超导体（２２１２,２２２３单相,多晶及薄膜材料）中磁弛豫现象的实验结果。从实验上证实了通量运动由热激活到非热激活机制的转变。实验中得到的与温度无关的磁弛豫速率与由通量运动量子隧道效应理论计算结果相一致。同时讨论了各向异性和磁场对磁通的量子漂移速率的影响     

高温超导体中磁通涡旋的量子隧道效应——TlBaCaCuO化合物磁弛豫的实验研究

本文报道了ＴｌＢａＣａＣｕＯ超导体（２２１２，２２２３单相，多晶及薄膜材料）中磁弛豫现象的实验结果。从实验上证实了通量运动由热激活到非热激活机制的转变。实验中得到的与温度无关的磁弛豫速率与由通量运动量子隧道效应理论计算结果相一致。同时讨论了各向异性和磁场对磁通的量子漂移速率的影响     

高温超导体中磁通涡旋的量子隧道效应——TIBaCaCuO化合物磁弛豫…

本报道了ＴＩＢＡＣａＣｕＯ超导体（２２１２，２２２３单相，多晶及薄膜材料）中磁弛豫现象的实验结果，从实验上证实了能量运动由热激活到非热激活机制的转变，实验中得到与温度无关的磁弛豫速率与由通量运动量子隧道效应理论计算结果相一致，同时讨论了各向异性和磁场对磁通的量子漂移速率的影响。     

分子磁体中的量子隧穿及宏观量子效应

文章介绍了分子磁体中的量子隧穿和宏观量子效应理论和实验研究的新进展．分子磁体既有宏观磁体特性也呈现纯量子行为，例如磁化矢量的量子隧穿．文章作者解释了如何通过量子隧穿实现宏观量子相干(即薛定谔猫态的相干叠加)和量子态位相干涉．对隧穿率计算的瞬子方法，特别是有限温度隧穿理论及其在分子磁体量子隧穿中的应用也做了简要的阐述．     

Reissner-Nordström de Sitter黑洞的量子隧穿效应

运用Parikh的量子隧穿模型,研究了Reissner-Nordstr(o)m de Sitter黑洞的量子隧穿效应.结果表明,在能量守恒的条件下,黑洞外视界和宇宙视界处的粒子出射率与Bekenstein-Hawking熵有关,辐射谱不再是严格的纯热谱.     

A new understanding of the resistive state and the V-I characteristic of high-Tc superconductors

Bardeen-Stephen dissipation in the regime of thermally activated flux flow (TAFF) and flux creep has been considered with respect to its contribution to the activation energy for thermally initiated flux movement. The inclusion of this flux flow dissipation term leads to a new expression for the voltage-current (V-I, or E-J) characteristics. The extended model describes the flux dynamics in the three regimes of flux movement: TAFF, creep, and flux flow, in a satisfactory way and explains the main experimental observations.     

Crossover from thermally activated flux creep to quantum tunneling of vortices in a YBa2Cu3O7−x film

We present the results of a study of flux creep in a ring-shaped epitaxial superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x film at low temperatures. Measurements between 2 and 20 K have been made and it is confirmed that the flux creep is a thermally activated process at temperatures exceeding 10 K. The low-temperature data are analyzed by assuming a crossover to quantum tunneling of the vortex lines. Using the fact that the critical current in our sample is almost independent of temperature below 20 K, we establish the temperature dependence of the Euclidian action S directly from the experimental data without any a priori assumptions. Our results imply that at temperatures below 8.5 K S(T)=S(0)(1−T²/T_qc²), with approximately the same value of T_qc≈15 K for the case of the remnant magnetization as well as in an external magnetic field of 1 kOe.     

WEAK QUANTUM FLUX CREEP AND STRONG PINNING IN THE NEW SUPERCONDUCTOR MgB2

The newly discovered superconductor MgB₂ has a transition temperature T_c of about 40 K, which is touching the upper line of that predicted by the phonon-mediated Bardeen--Cooper--Schrieffer (BCS) theory. It is interesting to investigate the flux creep in MgB₂ and compare it with other superconductors. We have measured the magnetization relaxation of MgB₂ sintered at high temperature and high pressure. It is found that the quantum tunnelling and the thermally activated flux creep are very weak, implying a strong pinning in this material.     

a.c. susceptibility of a YBCO single crystal in an extended frequency range interpreted by numerical solution of the continuity equation for the magnetic field

Summary a.c. susceptibility measurements on a YBCO single crystal in an extended range of frequency and applied magnetic fields are presented. The dissipation phenomena shown by these measurements are interpreted inside the framework of the thermally activated flux motion theory developed for low-temperature superconductors in early '60. For this purpose the continuity equation for the magnetic field inside the sample is solved numerically, avoiding to usea priori the standard approximations of this theory: thermally activated flux creep and thermally assisted flux flow. The whole set of a.c. susceptibility measurements, performed in a wide range of the parameters, can be fitted with good agreement between the experimental and theoretical data. In honour of Prof. Fausto Fumi on the occasion of his retirement from teaching.     

Numerical study of metastability due to tunneling: The quantum string method

We generalize the string method, originally designed for the study of thermally activated rare events, to the calculation of quantum tunneling rates. This generalization is based on the formal analogy between quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics in the path-integral formalism. The quantum string method first locates the minimal action path (MAP), which is a smooth curve connecting two minima of the imaginary-time action in the space of imaginary-time trajectories. From the MAP, the saddle point of the action (called “the bounce”) associated with the exponential factor for barrier tunneling probability is obtained and the pre-exponential factor (the ratio of determinants) for the tunneling rate evaluated using stochastic simulation. The quantum string method is implemented to calculate the bounce and rate of tunneling for the Mueller potential in two dimensions. The quantum problem is much more difficult than the thermally activated barrier crossing problem for the same potential. The model calculations show the string method to be an efficient numerical tool for the study of barrier tunneling in higher dimension, from the determination of the saddle point to the computation of the pre-exponential factor.     

Direct observation of the quantum tunneling of single hydrogen atoms with a scanning tunneling microscope

Single hydrogen atoms were imaged on the Cu(001) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The vibrations of individual H and D atoms against the surface were excited and detected by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (STM-IETS). Variable temperature measurements of H atom diffusion showed a transition from thermally activated diffusion to quantum tunneling at 60 K. Regimes of phonon-assisted and electron-limited quantum tunneling were observed. The thermal diffusion rate of D atoms varied over 7 orders of magnitude between 80 and 50 K with no transition to quantum tunneling down to a thermal hopping rate of 4x10(-7) s(-1).     

Macrolocalization of plastic strain in creep of fine-grain aluminum

The evolution of the plastic strain macrolocalization pattern in low-temperature creep of commercial purity aluminum is studied. The localization pattern depends on a stage in the creep curve. At the stage of steady-state creep, localization zones propagate in the form of a wave traveling with a velocity proportional to the rate of buildup of the total strain. It is found that the volumes where the creep and strain localization wave propagation are activated equal each other. Based on estimates of the activation volumes, it is shown that the velocity of plastic strain localization waves is governed by thermally activated dislocation movement.     

Low-field vortex dynamics in various high-T c thin films

We present a novel ac susceptibility technique for the study of vortex creep in superconducting thin films. With this technique we study the dynamics of dilute vortices in c-axis oriented Y-123, Hg-1212, and Tl-1212 thin films, as well as a axis oriented Hg-1212 thin films. Results on the Hg-1212 and Tl-1212 thin films indicate that dislocation-mediated plastic flux creep of single vortices dominates at low temperatures and fields. As the temperature (or the field) is increased, the increasing vortex-vortex interactions promote a collective behavior, which can be characterized by elastic creep with a non-zero μ exponent. Also, in some of these samples effects of thermally assisted quantum creep are visible up to 45 K in some of these samples. In Y-123 thin films, creep is found to be collective down to the lowest temperatures and fields investigated, while the quantum creep persists only up to 10–11 K.