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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Chiral Magnetic Josephson Junction as a Base for Low-Noise Superconducting Qubits

The lack of space inversion symmetry endows non-centrosymmetric superconducting materials with various interesting parity-breaking phenomena, including the anomalous Josephson effect. Our paper considers a Josephson junction of two non-centrosymmetric superconductors connected by a uniaxial ferromagnet. We show that this “Chiral Magnetic Josephson junction” (CMJ junction) exhibits a direct analog of the Chiral Magnetic Effect, which has already been observed in Weyl and Dirac semimetals. We suggest that the CMJ can serve as an element of a qubit with a Hamiltonian tunable by the ferromagnet’s magnetization. The CMJ junction avoids using an offset magnetic flux in inductively shunted qubits, thus enabling a simpler and more robust architecture. Furthermore, when the uniaxial ferromagnet’s easy axis is directed across the junction, the resulting “chiral magnetic qubit” provides robust protection from the noise caused by magnetization fluctuations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fractional Josephson current through a Luttinger liquid with topological excitations

Recently, the Majorana fermion has received great attentions due to its promising application in the fault-tolerant quantum computation. This application requires more accessible methods to detect the motion and braiding of the Majorana fermions. We use a Luttinger liquid ring to achieve this goal, where the ring geometry is nontrivial in the sense that it leads to fermion-parity-dependent topological excitations. First, we briefly review the essential physics of the Luttinger liquid and the Majorana fermion, in order to give an introduction of the general framework used in the following main work. Then, we theoretically investigated the DC Josephson effect between two topological superconductors via a Luttinger liquid ring. A low-energy effective Hamiltonian is derived to show the existence of the fractional Josephson current. Also, we find that the amplitude of the Josephson current, which is determined by the correlation function of Luttinger liquid, exhibits different behaviors in terms of the parity of Luttinger liquid due to the topological excitations. Our results suggest a possible method to detect the Majorana fermions and their tunneling process.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1995

Transparent magnetic state in single crystal Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) superconductors

Several experimental studies have been reported as evidence of Josephson coupling between the superconducting layers in the highly anisotropic oxide such as the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 and Tl2Ba2CuO6 systems. These include the large penetration depth of 100 mu m measured, ac and dc Josephson effects. Recently two critical temperatures corresponding to Josephson coupling in between the layers and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the ab-plane have been directly observed in the transport measurements. If the field is applied parallel to the superconducting layers, the magnetic excitation is not the conventional Abrikosov vortices, but the Josephson vortices which extend lambda(sub ab) in the c-axis direction and lambda(sub J) = gamma s in the plane (s is the interlayer distance, gamma is the anisotropy constant). Because of the weak screening effect associated with the Josephson vortices, there have been predictions of magnetic transparent states at magnetic field above a characteristic field H(sub J), a behavior distinctively different from that of the type-II superconductors. In this paper, we report an experimental result which illustrates a transition from the Meissner state to the magnetic transparent state in single crystal of Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y). Magnetization has been measured as a function of temperature and field in the magnetic field parallel or close to ab-plane geometry. For a fixed magnetic field, the magnetization shows a two-step transition in M(T); for a fixed temperature, the magnetization shows an abrupt change to almost zero value above a characteristic field H(sub J), an indication of magnetic transparent state. The data of magnetization as a function of field clearly deviates from the behavior predicted by the Abrikosov theory for type-II superconductors. Instead, the data fit well into the picture of Josephson decoupling between the CuO2 layers.

Zuo, F.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Scanning Josephson spectroscopy on the atomic scale

The Josephson effect provides a direct method to probe the strength of the pairing interaction in superconductors. By measuring the phase fluctuating Josephson current between a superconducting tip of a scanning tunneling microscope and a BCS superconductor with isolated magnetic adatoms on its surface, we demonstrate that the spatial variation of the pairing order parameter can be characterized on the atomic scale. This system provides an example where the local pairing potential suppression is not directly reflected in the spectra measured via quasiparticle tunneling. Spectroscopy with such superconducting tips also shows signatures of previously unexplored Andreev processes through individual impurity-bound Shiba states. Furthermore, the atomic resolution achieved here establishes scanning Josephson spectroscopy as a promising technique for the study of novel superconducting phases.

Andreev reflection↗
DOE OSTI2023

Gate-tunable superconducting diode effect in a three-terminal Josephson device

Abstract The phenomenon of non-reciprocal critical current in a Josephson device, termed the Josephson diode effect, has garnered much recent interest. Realization of the diode effect requires inversion symmetry breaking, typically obtained by spin-orbit interactions. Here we report observation of the Josephson diode effect in a three-terminal Josephson device based upon an InAs quantum well two-dimensional electron gas proximitized by an epitaxial aluminum superconducting layer. We demonstrate that the diode efficiency in our devices can be tuned by a small out-of-plane magnetic field or by electrostatic gating. We show that the Josephson diode effect in these devices is a consequence of the artificial realization of a current-phase relation that contains higher harmonics. We also show nonlinear DC intermodulation and simultaneous two-signal rectification, enabled by the multi-terminal nature of the devices. Furthermore, we show that the diode effect is an inherent property of multi-terminal Josephson devices, establishing an immediately scalable approach by which potential applications of the Josephson diode effect can be realized, agnostic to the underlying material platform. These Josephson devices may also serve as gate-tunable building blocks in designing topologically protected qubits.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Higher-order topological superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene

In this work, we show that introducing spin-singlet or spin-triplet superconductivity into twisted bilayer graphene induces higher-order topological superconductivity. Multiple copies of C 2z ⁢T-protected Majorana Kramers pairs appear at corners on pairing domain walls. The topology originates from the anomaly analyzed in Song et al.—the absence of a lattice support—of the single-valley band structure of twisted bilayer graphene, which is protected by C 2z ⁢T and approximate particle-hole symmetry $\mathcal{P}$. We prove that any pairing (spin-singlet or spin-triplet) term preserving valley-U(1), spin-SU(2), time-reversal, C 2z ⁢T, and $\mathcal{P}$ must drive the system into a higher-order topological superconductor. Here spin-SU(2) is the global spin-SU(2) for the singlet pairing and is broken to U(1) for the triplet pairing. Using a Dirac Hamiltonian, we derive the corner modes and confirm with numerics. These corner states are stable even if $\mathcal{P}$ is weakly broken, which is true in experimental setups. Finally, we suggest experimental detection via the fractional Josephson effect in a TBG-TSC Josephson junction.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Zero Crossing Steps and Anomalous Shapiro Maps in Graphene Josephson Junctions

The AC Josephson effect manifests itself in the form of “Shapiro steps” of quantized voltage in Josephson junctions subject to radio frequency (RF) radiation. This effect presents an early example of a driven–dissipative quantum phenomenon and is presently utilized in primary voltage standards. Shapiro steps have also become one of the standard tools to probe junctions made in a variety of novel materials. Here we study Shapiro steps in a widely tunable graphene-based Josephson junction in which the high- frequency dynamics is determined by the on-chip environment. We investigate the variety of patterns that can be obtained in this well-understood system depending on the carrier density, temperature, RF frequency, and magnetic field. Although the patterns of Shapiro steps can change drastically when just one parameter is varied, the overall trends can be understood and the behaviors straightforwardly simulated, showing some key differences from the conventional RCSJ model. The resulting understanding may help interpret similar measurements in more complex materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interplay between interband coupling and ferromagnetism in iron pnictide superconductor/ferromagnet/iron pnictide superconductor junctions

An extended eight-component Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation is applied to study the Josephson effect between iron-based superconductors (SCs) with s{sub ±}-wave pairing symmetry, separated by an ferromagnet (FM). The feature of damped oscillations of critical Josephson current as a function of FM thickness, the split of the peaks induced by the interband coupling is much different from that for the junction with the s{sub ±}-wave SCs replaced by s{sub ++}-wave ones. In particular, a 0−π transition as a function of interband coupling strength α is found to always exhibit with the corresponding dip shifting toward the larger α due to enhancing the spin polarization in the FM, while there exits no 0−π transition for the SC with s{sub ++}-wave pairing symmetry. The two features can be used to identify the pairing symmetry in the iron pnictide SC different from the s{sub ++}-wave one in MgB{sub 2}. Experimentally, by adjusting the doping level in the s{sub ±}-wave SCs, one can vary α.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Spin interference of holes in silicon nanosandwiches

Spin-dependent transport of holes is studied in silicon nanosandwiches on an n-Si (100) surface which are represented by ultranarrow p-Si quantum wells confined by {delta}-barriers heavily doped with boron. The measurement data of the longitudinal and Hall voltages as functions of the top gate voltage without an external magnetic field show the presence of edge conduction channels in the silicon nanosandwiches. An increase in the stabilized source-drain current within the range 0.25-5 nA subsequently exhibits the longitudinal conductance value 4e{sup 2}/h, caused by the contribution of the multiple Andreev reflection, the value 0.7(2e{sup 2}/h) corresponding to the known quantum conductance staircase feature, and displays Aharonov-Casher oscillations, which are indicative of the spin polarization of holes in the edge channels. In addition, at a low stabilized source-drain current, due to spin polarization, a nonzero Hall voltage is detected which is dependent on the top gate voltage; i. e., the quantum spin Hall effect is observed. The measured longitudinal I-V characteristics demonstrate Fiske steps and a negative differential resistance caused by the generation of electromagnetic radiation as a result of the Josephson effect. The results obtained are explained within a model of topological edge states which are a system of superconducting channels containing quantum point contacts transformable to single Josephson junctions at an increasing stabilized source-drain current.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Tunable Superconducting Josephson Dielectric Metamaterial

We demonstrate a low-dissipation dielectric metamaterial with tunable properties based on the Josephson effect. Superconducting wires loaded with regularly spaced Josephson junctions (critical current $I_c \approx 0.25$ $\mu$A) spanning a K-band waveguide and aligned with the microwave electric fields create a superconducting dielectric metamaterial. Applied dc current tunes the cutoff frequency and effective permittivity of this unique electric metamaterial. The results are in agreement with an analytical model for microwave transmission through the artificial dielectric medium.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Persistent Josephson tunneling between Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + x flakes twisted by 45 ° across the superconducting dome

There is a heated debate on the Josephson effect in twisted Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+x flakes. Recent experimental results suggest the presence of either anomalously isotropic pairing or exotic d+id-wave pairing, in addition to the commonly believed d-wave one. Here, we address this controversy by fabricating ultraclean junctions with uncompromised crystalline quality and stoichiometry at the junction interfaces. In the optimally doped regime, we obtain prominent Josephson coupling (2-4 mV) in multiple junctions with the twist angle of 45°, in sharp contrast to a recent report that shows two orders of magnitude suppression around 45° from the value at 0°. We further extend this study to the previously unexplored overdoped regime and observe pronounced Josephson tunneling at 45° together with Josephson diode effect up to 50 K. In conclusion, our work helps establish the persistent presence of an isotropic pairing component across the entire superconducting phase diagram.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Electron-hole pairing with nonzero momentum in a graphene bilayer

Electron-hole pairing due to the Coulomb interaction in the system of two graphene sheets has been considered. The critical transition temperature has been determined as a function of both the distance between the electron and hole Fermi lines and the triangular distortion of their spectrum. It has been shown that when the distance between Fermi lines is longer than a critical value, the temperature of the transition to a state with nonzero momentum of Cooper pairs (Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state) is higher than the temperature of the transition to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state. The Josephson effect for the FFLO state has been analyzed, which is due to the tunneling of charge carriers between the graphene sheets. It has been shown that the spatial structure of the order parameter of the system in this state can be reconstructed, i.e., the FFLO state can be identified from the dependence of the tunneling current on the magnetic field parallel to the graphene sheets. Other experimental methods for studying the phase diagram of the system have been discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Hysteresis from nonlinear dynamics of Majorana modes in topological Josephson junctions

We reveal that topological Josephson junctions provide a natural platform for the interplay between the Josephson effect and the Landau-Zener effect through a two-level system formed by coupled Majorana modes. We build a quantum resistively shunted junction (RSJ) model by modifying the standard textbook RSJ model to take account of the two-level system from the Majorana modes at the junction. We show that the dynamics of the two-level system is governed by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation and solve the equations analytically via a mapping to a classical dynamical problem. This nonlinear dynamics leads to hysteresis in the I-V characteristics, which can give a quantitative explanation to recent experiments. Furthermore, we also predict the coexistence of two interference patterns with periods h/e and h/2e in topological superconducting quantum interference devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of odd-parity superconductivity in UTe 2

Symmetry properties of the order parameter are among the most fundamental characteristics of a superconductor. UTe 2 , which was found to feature an exceedingly large upper critical field and striking reentrant behavior at low temperatures, is widely believed to possess a spin-triplet pairing symmetry. However, unambiguous evidence for such a pairing symmetry is still lacking, especially at zero and low magnetic fields. The presence of an inversion crystalline symmetry in UTe 2 requires that, if it is indeed a spin-triplet superconductor, the order parameter must be of odd parity. We report here phase-sensitive measurements of the symmetry of the orbital part of the order parameter using the Josephson effect. The selection rule in the orientation dependence of the Josephson coupling between In, an s -wave superconductor, and UTe 2 suggests strongly that UTe 2 possesses the odd-parity pairing state of B 1 u symmetry near zero magnetic field, making it a spin-triplet superconductor. We also report the apparent formation of Andreev surface bound states on the (1−10) surface of UTe 2 .

Li, Zixuan (ORCID:0009000572025666)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Vortices with magnetic field inversion in noncentrosymmetric superconductors

Superconducting materials with noncentrosymmetric lattices lacking space inversion symmetry exhibit a variety of interesting parity-breaking phenomena, including the magneto-electric effect, spin-polarized currents, helical states, and the unusual Josephson effect. In this paper, we demonstrate, within a Ginzburg-Landau framework describing noncentrosymmetric superconductors with O point group symmetry, that vortices can exhibit an inversion of the magnetic field at a certain distance from the vortex core. In stark contrast to conventional superconducting vortices, the magnetic-field reversal in the parity-broken superconductor leads to non-monotonic intervortex forces, and, as a consequence, to the exotic properties of the vortex matter such as the formation of vortex bound states, vortex clusters, and the appearance of metastable vortex/anti-vortex bound states.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1974

Four photon parametric amplification

An analysis is presented describing four-photon parametric amplification in an unbiased Josephson junction. Central to the theory is the model of the Josephson effect as a nonlinear inductance. Linear, small signal analysis is applied to the two-fluid model of the Josephson junction. The gain, gain-bandwidth product, high frequency limit, and effective noise temperature are calculated for a cavity reflection amplifier. The analysis is extended to multiple (series-connected) junctions and subharmonic pumping.

Parrish, P. T.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spatial Instabilities, Homogeneities and Proximity Effects: Highly Correlated Metals

We have developed a superconducting scanning tunneling microscope (S-STM) which is a direct and local probe of the pair wave function of superconducting materials via the Josephson effect and quasiparticle spectra via scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). The novel feature of this device is a superconducting tip (Pb with an Ag capping layer) in close proximity to a superconducting sample to form a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction. The operation of this S-STM has been verified in the observation of Josephson tunneling between the tip and different sample systems including Pb films and NbSe 2 . At the experimental base temperature (T=2.1K) and large junction normal resistance (R N > 10 4 Ω) the phase is not locked in the washboard potential, but is excited thermally to be diffusive.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗