Possibility of persistent voltage observation in a system of asymmetric superconducting rings

The possibility of observing persistent voltage in superconducting rings of different arm widths is experimentally investigated. It was previously found that switching of the arms between superconducting and normal states by an AC current induces DC voltage oscillation in the magnetic field with a period corresponding to the flux quantum inside the ring. We used systems with a large number of asymmetric rings connected in series to investigate the possibility of observing this quantum phenomenon near the superconducting transition, where thermal fluctuations lead to switching of ring segments without an external influence and the persistent current is much smaller than in the superconducting state.     

Quantum oscillations of the critical current of asymmetric superconducting rings

The current-voltage characteristics and the magnetic field dependences of the critical current have been measured for symmetric and asymmetric superconducting rings and systems of such rings. The dependences obtained explain the periodic change in the rectified voltage observed on asymmetric rings as a result of a periodic change in the asymmetry of current-voltage characteristics.     

Tunnel magnetotransport in heterostructures with quantum rings

A tunnel current through a heterostructure whose barrier contains quantum rings is calculated. The plane of the rings is parallel to the barrier interface. In a magnetic field perpendicular to this plane, a tunnel current at a fixed bias experiences Aharonov-Bohm oscillations under the variation of magnetic flux through a ring; however, these oscillations are not strictly periodic.     

Analytic study of electron transmission through serial mesoscopic metallic rings

We investigate the electron transmission through a structure of serial mesoscopic metallic rings coupled to two external leads. A set of analytical expressions based on the quantum waveguide transport and the transfer matrix method are derived and used to discuss the effects of geometric configurations on transmission probabilities. It is found that in the contact ring case the existence of an applied magnetic flux is necessary to create transmission gaps, while in the non-contact ring case transmission gaps always appear irrespective of whether there is an applied magnetic flux or not. The transmissions for periodic rings with a defect ring and periodic rings built by two sorts of rings are also briefly studied. It is also found that the transmission periodicity with wave vector must be ensured by the commensurability of two characteristic lengths, i.e., of the half perimeter of a ring and the connecting wire between two adjacent rings. The special points of wave vector and magnetic flux which give rise to the transmission resonance and antiresonance are analyzed in detail.     

三臂环中的持续电流

利用量子波导理论研究三臂环中的持续电流.结果表明,输运电流存在时,不含磁场且上、下臂等长的三臂环中仍可以有持续电流出现,而且上臂和下臂中的持续电流是相同的.三臂环的各臂长不等时,三个臂中的持续电流各不相同.我们还发现,即使三臂环和单环的上、下臂比值一样,两个环中的持续电流也明显不同.     

Electronic properties of a quantum ring perturbed with a quantum well in the presence of perpendicular magnetic flux

Here, we study the effects of the number of sites, quantum ring radius and potential well depth on the energy levels, persistent current, magnetic susceptibility and density of states (DOS) of a quantum ring with a quantum well within its circumstance in a magnetic flux perpendicular to its plane. We show that, for small radius quantum ring systems, there are periodic local gaps along the magnetic flux axis in the DOS plots and along the axis ‘energy’. For large radius quantum ring systems, a uniform gap along the energy axis exists and along the phi axis nothing changes. In quantum rings with a quantum well in their circumstance, by using the large confining potential, we can create uniform gaps in the Energy–phi plane. The energy eigenvalues, persistent current and magnetic susceptibility decrease by increasing the confining potential. A quantum ring even with a very small confining potential in its circumstance can sensibly decrease the persistent current and magnetic susceptibility, although it may do not change the energy eigenvalues and DOS maximum considerably. Thus, by using the abovementioned parameters, we are able to tune the DOS, persistent current, magnetic susceptibility and energy levels, desirably.     

Cyclic hydrocarbons: nanoscopic (π)-SQUIDs?

A nonperturbative method for calculating persistent currents in molecules and nanoscopic quantum rings is presented. Starting from the extended Hubbard model on a ring threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm flux, a feedback term through which the current can generate magnetic flux is added. Another extension of the Hamiltonian describes the energy stored in the internally generated field. This model is evaluated using exact diagonalization and an iterative scheme to find the minima of the free energy with respect to the current. The magnetic properties due to electron delocalization of conjugated hydrocarbons like benzene [magnetic anisotropy, magnetic susceptibility exaltation, nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS)] — that have become important criteria for aromaticity — can be examined using this model. A possible novel mechanism for a permanent orbital magnetic moment in quantum rings analogous to the one in π-SQUIDs is found in the framework of the proposed model. The quantum rings must satisfy two conditions to exhibit this kind of permanent orbital magnetic moment: a negative Drude weight and an inductivity above the critical level.     

Superconducting quantum interference device without Josephson junctions

A new type of a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based on a single superconducting loop without Josephson junctions and with asymmetric contacts has been proposed. This SQUID offers advantages in simplicity of fabrication and a steeper dependence of measured quantities on the magnetic flux. To confirm the possibility of making this type of SQUID, the magnetic field dependence of the critical current in an aluminum ring with asymmetric contacts has been experimentally investigated.     

Effect of an alternating field on the relaxation of effect of an alternating field on the relaxation of magnetic flux in a Josephson medium

We establish how trapped magnetic flux depends on the frequency and amplitude of an alternating field and how such a field affects the relaxation rate of the flux. We find that the nature of the flux creep changes in the process and that relaxation of the flux stops after the external field is switched off. We examine the dynamics of flux relaxation in a ring in the approximation in which the current density is assumed homogeneous, for various density dependences of the effective vortex activation energy. The critical current density and the vortex activation energy are obtained as functions of the external field strength. Finally, we explain the observed behavior in terms of the different field profiles emerging in the rings. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 1047–1056 (March 1997)     

Asymmetry with respect to the magnetic field direction in the interaction between the quantum states of two coupled superconducting rings

The interaction between the quantum states of two circularly asymmetric superconducting aluminum rings forming figure eight, threaded by a magnetic flux and biased by an external sinusoidal ac current with zero dc component, has been investigated. Quantum oscillations in the dependence V _dc(B) of the rectified dc voltage on magnetic field for these structures have been measured at different external currents and temperatures close to critical. Fourier and wavelet analyses of the function V _dc(B) have revealed, along with the two fundamental ring frequencies, various combination frequencies; this fact is indicative of interaction in the structure. Deviation of the function V _dc(B) from oddness with respect to the magnetic field direction has been found for the first time.     

Quantum ring states in magnetic field and delayed half-cycle pulses

The present work is dedicated to the time evolution of excitation of a quantum ring in external electric and magnetic fields. Such a ring of mesoscopic dimensions in an external magnetic field is known to exhibit a wide variety of interesting physical phenomena. We have studied the dynamics of the single electron quantum ring in the presence of a static magnetic field and a combination of delayed half-cycle pulse pair. Detailed calculations have been worked out and the impact on dynamics by variation in the ring radius, intensity of external electric field, delay between the two pulses, and variation in magnetic field have been reported. A total of 19 states have been taken and the population transfer in the single electron quantum ring is studied by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE), using the efficient fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. Many interesting features have been observed in the transition probabilities with the variation of magnetic field, delay between pulses and ring dimensions. A very important aspect of the present work is the persistent current generation in a quantum ring in the presence of external magnetic flux and its periodic variation with the magnetic flux, ring dimensions and pulse delay.     

Junctions of three quantum wires and the dissipative Hofstadter model

We study a junction of three quantum wires enclosing a magnetic flux. This is the simplest problem of a quantum junction between Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids in which Fermi statistics enter in a nontrivial way. We present a direct connection between this problem and the dissipative Hofstadter problem, or quantum Brownian motion in two dimensions in a periodic potential and an external magnetic field, which in turn is connected to open string theory in a background electromagnetic field. We find nontrivial fixed points corresponding to a chiral conductance tensor leading to an asymmetric flow of the current.     

Superconducting state evolution with applied magnetic flux in mesoscopic rings

The magnetic flux dependence of the vortex state for small mesoscopic superconducting rings surrounded by a medium is investigated by the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory. The influences of the ring size and the surface superconductivity on the free energy and total supercurrent are studied. For narrow rings, the persistent current evolves towards a periodic behaviour with magnetic flux. The complete paramagnetic or diamagnetic state, corresponding to positive or negative current flowing in the whole ring, can occur. A remarkable intermittent superconducting behaviour for the ground-state transition is found when the strength of surface-suppressed superconductivity is enlarged or the ring size is decreased. Consequently, a pure superconducting state with positive total current can be obtained.     

Effect of electric field on the electronic spectrum and the persistent current of a quantum ring with two electrons

The effect of an electric field E on a narrow quantum ring that contains two electrons and is threaded by a magnetic flux B has been investigated. Localization of the electronic distribution and suppression of the Aharonov--Bohm oscillation (ABO) are found in the two-electron ring, which are similar to those found in a one-electron ring. However, the period of ABO in a two-electron ring is reduced by half compared with that in a one-electron ring. Furthermore, during the variation of B, the persistent current of the ground state may undergo a sudden change in sign. This change is associated with a singlet--triplet transition and has no counterpart in one-electron rings. For a given E, there exists a threshold of energy. When the energy of the excited state exceeds the threshold, the localization would disappear and the ABO would recover. The value of the threshold is proportional to the magnitude of E. Once the threshold is exceeded, the persistent current is much stronger than the current of the ground state at E=0.     

开口磁环的周期聚焦系统仿真分析与实验

当前行波管周期永磁聚焦系统的波端口位置处的磁环通常采用单向开口磁环。在波端口位置引入波导阻抗调谐支节的基础上,提出了两种不同的双向开口磁环结构。利用三维电磁仿真软件Opera-3D,分析了双开口磁环的中心轴线附近的磁场,并据此进一步介绍了带双开口磁环周期永磁聚焦系统的设计方法。为了验证带双开口磁环的周期永磁聚焦系统应用的可行性,设计和测试了一套E波段折叠波导行波管电子光学系统。在行波管试验中,电子枪发射电流83 mA,带双开口磁环的周期永磁聚焦系统聚焦的电子束流通率达到99%。     

Dependence of the magnitude and direction of the persistent current on the magnetic flux in superconducting rings

The obtained periodic magnetic-field dependences I _c+(Φ/Φ₀) and I _c?(Φ/Φ₀) of the critical current measured in opposite directions on asymmetric superconducting aluminum rings has made it possible to explain previously observed quantum oscillations of dc voltage as a result of alternating current rectification. It was found that a higher rectification efficiency of both single rings and ring systems is caused by hysteresis of the current-voltage characteristics. The asymmetry of current-voltage characteristics providing the rectification effect is due to the relative shifts of the magnetic dependences I _c?(Φ/Φ₀) = I _c+(Φ/Φ₀ + Δ?) of the critical current measured in opposite directions. This shift means that the position of I _c+(Φ/Φ₀) and I _c?(Φ/Φ₀) minima does not correspond to n + 0.5 magnetic flux Φ quanta, which is in direct contradiction to measured Little-Parks resistance oscillations. Despite this contradiction, the amplitude I _{c, an}(Φ/Φ₀) = I _c+(Φ/Φ₀) ? I _c?(Φ/Φ₀) of critical current anisotropy oscillations and its variations with temperature correspond to the expected amplitude of persistent current oscillations and its variations with temperature.     

含杂质的三臂环中的持续电流

采用量子波导理论,研究了含杂质的介观三臂环中的持续电流。结果表明:输运电流存在时,不含磁场的三臂环中也可有持续电流产生, 这是纯的量子现象。即使含杂质的三臂环和含杂质的单环上、下臂比例相同,两环中的电流也明显不同。更重要的是发现在某些能量范围内,杂质不总是制约持续电流的增大。     

Low-energy subgap states and the magnetic flux periodicity in d-wave superconducting rings

Wave functions of low-energy quasiparticle subgap states in d-wave superconducting rings, threaded by an Aharonov-Bohm magnetic flux, are found analytically. The respective energies are closest to the midgap position at small magnetic fluxes and deviate from the Fermi surface due to the Doppler shift, produced by the supercurrent. The Doppler-shifted zero-energy states result in a paramagnetic response of the ring at small fluxes. The states exist only for even angular momenta of the center of mass of Cooper pairs, in agreement with recent numerical studies of the problem. This macroscopic quantum effect in d-wave rings results in broken h/2e periodicity, retaining only the h/e periodic behavior of the supercurrent with varying magnetic flux.     

铁磁/半导体/铁磁结构的双量子环自旋输运的特性

研究了与铁磁/半导体/铁磁结构相关的双量子环自旋输运的规律,研究结果表明：总磁通为零条件下,铁磁电极磁化方向反平行时,双量子环与单量子环相比提高了自旋电子透射概率的平均值.铁磁电极磁化方向平行时,双量子环对提高自旋向下电子平均透射概率的效果更明显;双量子环受到Rashba自旋轨道耦合作用影响时,自旋电子的平均透射概率明显高于单量子环,即使再加上外加磁场的影响,透射概率较高这一特征依然存在;双量子环所含的δ势垒具有阻碍自旋电子输运的作用,随δ势垒强度Z的增大透射概率 关键词： 双量子环 Rashba自旋轨道耦合 透射概率 δ势垒')" href="#">δ势垒     

Studying quantum current magnification in mesoscopic coupling metallic rings

We propose a quantum Hamiltonian and obtain the relationship between external magnetic field and currents of three mesoscopic coupling rings. The impact of coupling on quantum current magnification in the system is studied. It is found that the quantum current magnification effect strongly depend on both the external magnetic flux and the coupling factors. As a result, by taking use of coupling rings, we can design some circuits to transfer and communicate signals.