Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Methods in superconductivity”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum Zeno Control of Superconducting Qubit Coherence

The Quantum Zeno Effect (QZE) dictates how the dynamics of a quantum system can be modified through continuous or discrete measurements [1]. It has gained increasing attention in quantum computing community in recent years, both due to its inevitable implications for qubit readout as well as for its promise for enabling new methods of quantum state control such as reservoir engineering and Zeno-dragging. Here, we investigate Zeno effects implemented via weak measurements for controlling superconducting-qubit coherence during gate and readout operations in a multi-qubit setup. Building on prior observations [2] that measurement backaction can both suppress and enhance qubit relaxation, we predict and measure QZE-altered qubit coherence times by manipulating the spectral overlap of qubit spectrum with background noise sources. We also discuss modifications and opportunities for controllable QZE due to anharmonic effects in multi-level superconducting atoms. [1] S. Greenfield, A. Kamal, J. Dressel, E. Levenson-Falk, arXiv:2506.12679 (2025) [2] Thorbeck, Z. Xiao, L. Govia, A. Kamal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 090602 (2024)

Seidel, Olivia [Texas U., Arlington; Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2022

Exact matrix product state representation and convergence of a fully correlated electronic wavefunction in the infinite-basis limit

Here In this paper we present the exact representation of a fully correlated electronic wavefunction as the single-particle basis approaches completeness. It consists of a half-infinite chain of matrices of exponentially increasing size. The complete basis limit is illustrated numerically using the density-matrix renormalization-group method by computing the core-valence entanglement in the C 2 ground state in increasing subsets of cc-pVTZ and pVQZ bases until convergence is reached.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Ab Initio Study of the Electronic Structure, Elastic Properties, Magnetic Feature and Thermodynamic Properties of the Ba{sub 2}NiMoO{sub 6} Material

We report first-principles calculations of the elastic properties, electronic structure and magnetic behavior performed over the Ba{sub 2}NiMoO{sub 6} double perovskite. Calculations are carried out through the full-potential linear augmented plane-wave method within the framework of the Density Functional Theory (DFT) with exchange and correlation effects in the Generalized Gradient and Local Density Approximations, including spin polarization. The elastic properties calculated are bulk modulus (B), the elastic constants (C{sub 11}, C{sub 12} and C{sub 44}), the Zener anisotropy factor (A), the isotropic shear modulus (G), the Young modulus (Y) and the Poisson ratio (υ). Structural parameters, total energies and cohesive properties of the perovskite are studied by means of minimization of internal parameters with the Murnaghan equation, where the structural parameters are in good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, we have explored different antiferromagnetic configurations in order to describe the magnetic ground state of this compound. The pressure and temperature dependence of specific heat, thermal expansion coefficient, Debye temperature and Grüneisen parameter were calculated by DFT from the state equation using the quasi-harmonic model of Debye. A specific heat behavior C{sub V} ≈ C{sub P} was found at temperatures below T = 400 K, with Dulong–Petit limit values, which is higher than those, reported for simple perovskites.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of layer thickness on structural, morphological and superconducting properties of Nb 3 Sn films fabricated by multilayer sequential sputtering

Superconducting Nb3Sn films can be synthesized by controlling atomic concentration of Sn. Multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn thin films followed by high temperature annealing is considered as a method to fabricate Nb3Sn films where Sn composition of deposited films can be controlled by controlling the thickness of alternating Nb and Sn layers. We report on the structural, morphological and superconducting properties of Nb3Sn films fabricated by multilayer sequential sputtering of Nb and Sn films on sapphire substrates with ex-situ annealing at 950 °C for 3 h. We have investigated the effect of Nb and Sn layer thickness on the properties of Nb3Sn films. The thicknesses of Nb and Sn layers were varied in two ways: (1) varied Nb:Sn thickness ratio (1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1), and (2) varied layer thickness of both Nb and Sn layers, while keeping constant Nb:Sn thickness ratio of 2:1. The crystal structure, surface morphology, topography, and film composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) respectively. The results showed Sn loss from the surface due to evaporation during annealing. Superconducting Nb3Sn films of critical temperature up to 17.93 K have been achieved.

Sayeed, M. N.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ab-initio study of electronic structure and elastic properties of ZrC

The electronic and elastic properties of ZrC have been investigated using the linear combination of atomic orbitals method within the framework of density functional theory. Different exchange-correlation functionals are taken into account within generalized gradient approximation. We have computed energy bands, density of states, elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, lattice parameters and pressure derivative of the bulk modulus by calculating ground state energy of the rock salt structure type ZrC.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Simulation of the Formation of a Cascade of Displacements and Transient Ionization Processes in Silicon Semiconductor Structures under Neutron Exposure

The formation of a disordered defect region in bulk silicon is simulated using the molecular-dynamics method for various energies of a primary recoil atom. Variations in the volume and number of radiation-induced defects in a cluster during its formation are calculated. The generation rates of nonequilibrium carriers and amplitude-temporal dependences of pulses of ionization currents in test Schottky diodes with hyperhigh frequencies are found theoretically.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Half-Metallic Ferrimagnetic Characteristics of Co{sub 2}YZ (Z = P, As, Sb, and Bi) New Full-Heusler Alloys: a DFT Study

The full-Heusler alloys Co{sub 2}YZ (Z = P, As, Sb, and Bi) were investigated by using the state-of-the-art full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbital (FP-LAPW + lo) method within the framework of density functional theory (DFT), to understand the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of these new Heusler alloys. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) was chosen to define the exchange-correlation potential for studying the structural properties, whereas electronic and magnetic properties were developed by using the GGA + U scheme, where U is the Hubbard term, which explains the Coulomb repulsion and was applied to describe the “d” electrons. The structural properties indicated that the ferromagnetic states of these compounds are energetically more favorable than the paramagnetic states. Through results on the electronic structures (band structures and densities of states), it is found that all these alloys exhibit a complete half-metallic nature, with half-metallic gaps (E{sub HM}) of 0.632, 0.605, 1.223, and 0.922 eV for Co{sub 2}YP, Co{sub 2}YAs, Co{sub 2}YSb, and Co{sub 2}YBi alloys, respectively. The magnetic properties indicated that the total spin magnetic moments of these Heusler alloys obey the Slater-Pauling rule around value 2 µ{sub B} approximately. The local magnetic moments of Co and Y transition elements have opposite signs with different intensities, thus revealing the ferromagnetic character. Our study of both electronic and magnetic properties demonstrates in detail that Co{sub 2}YZ (Z = P, As, Sb, and Bi) full-Heusler alloys are complete half-metallic ferrimagnetic materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing the use of pressurized bladders for the assembly of HL-LHC MQXFB magnets

The use of pressurized bladders for stress control of superconducting magnets was firstly proposed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the early 2000s. Since then, the so-called ‘bladders and keys’ procedure has become one of the reference techniques for the assembly of high-field accelerator magnets and demonstrators. Exploiting the advantages of this method is today of critical importance for Nb$_{3}$Sn-based accelerator magnets, whose production requires the preservation of tight stress targets in the superconducting coils to limit the effects of the strain sensitivity and brittleness of the conductor. The present manuscript reports on the results of an experimental campaign focused on the optimization of the ‘bladders and keys’ assembly process in the MQXFB quadrupoles. These 7.2 m long magnets shall be among the first Nb$_{3}$Sn cryomagnets to be installed in a particle accelerator as a part of the High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC. One of the main practical implications of the bladders technique, especially important when applied to long magnets like MQXFB, is that to insert the loading keys, the opening of a certain clearance in the support structure is required. The procedure used so far for MQXF magnets involved an overstress in the coils during bladder inflation. The work presented here shows that such an overshoot can be eliminated thanks to additional bladders properly positioned in the structure. This optimized method was validated in a short model magnet and in a full-length mechanical model, becoming the new baseline for the series production at CERN. Furthermore, the results are supported by numerical predictions using finite element models.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1990

Development and evaluation of superconducting circuit elements

An approach to the application of high Tc ceramic superconductors to practical circuit elements was developed and demonstrated. This method, known as the rigid-conductor process (RCP), involves the combination of a pre-formed, sintered, and tested superconductor material with an appropriate, rigid substrate via an epoxy adhesive which also serves to encapsulate the element from the ambient environment. Emphasis was on the practical means to achieve functional, reliable, and reproducible components. Although all of the work described in this report involved a YBa2Cu3Osub(7-x) high Tc superconductor material, the techniques developed and conclusions reached are equally applicable to other high Tc materials.

Haertling, Gene H.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impact of Annealing on Superconducting Properties of Tantalum Thin Films

The pursuit for higher-coherence superconducting qubits has led to the adoption of new materials and innovative fabrication techniques. Among the commonly used superconducting materials, tantalum-based or tantalum-capped superconducting qubits have demonstrated the longest lifetimes, outperforming niobium devices even in the presence of their native oxides. Given the losses introduced by the surface oxide, one method to further improve performance is to reduce or eliminate the native oxide on tantalum through UHV annealing. In this work, we examine the effect of dissolved oxygen as a function of annealing temperature on the superconducting properties of tantalum thin films. Dissolved oxygen is quantified using atom probe tomography (APT) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and correlated with electromagnetic transport measurements performed using a Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS). This study observes that annealing decomposes the native oxide and drives oxygen diffusion into the film matrix. Increasing oxygen content decreases the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) and the residual resistivity ratio (RRR). The critical field decreases with the incorporation of oxygen, while the film’s coherence length decreases relatively by 5%. These results, as well as findings from ongoing studies linking fabrication processes to the structural and chemical properties of the superconducting film and Josephson junction, provide insight into effective strategies for improving the performance of superconducting devices.

Shinde, Maithilee [IIT, Chicago; Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pressure-Induced Superconductivity In Polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ

We synthesized polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ ( δ ≈ 0.0 7 ) samples by using the sol-gel method without postannealing under high oxygen pressure, and then measured temperature-dependent resistivity under various hydrostatic pressures up to 18 GPa by using the cubic anvil and two-stage multianvil apparatus. We find that the density-wave-like anomaly in resistivity is progressively suppressed with increasing pressure and the resistivity drop corresponding to the onset of superconductivity emerges at pressure as low as ∼ 6 GPa . Zero resistivity is achieved at 9 GPa below T c zero ≈ 6.6 K , which increases quickly with pressure to 41 K at 18 GPa. However, the diamagnetic response was not detected in the ac magnetic susceptibility measurements up to 15 GPa, indicating a filamentary nature of the observed superconductivity in the studied pressure range. The constructed T − P phase diagram reveals an intimate relationship between superconductivity, density-wave-like order, and the strange-metal-like behaviors. The observation of zero-resistance state in the polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ samples under high pressures not only corroborates the recent report of superconductivity in the pressurized La 3 Ni 2 O 7 crystals but also facilitates further studies on this emerging family of nickelate high- T c superconductors. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Elastic Properties of Lithium and Sodium Amides

This paper presents the optimization of the structural parameters of tetragonal and orthorhombic crystals α-LiNH{sub 2} and α-NaNH{sub 2} and computation of elastic constants and flexibility coefficients using the all-electron implementation of the Gaussian and augmented plane wave density functional method. The obtained elastic constants satisfy all conditions of mechanical stability of LiNH{sub 2} and α-NaNH{sub 2} crystals. From the viewpoint of elastic properties, α-LiNH{sub 2} crystal is isotropic, while α-NaNH{sub 2} crystal is rather anisotropic. Anisotropy under compression in α-NaNH{sub 2} crystal is higher than that under shear. The former is brittle, the latter is more plastic.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Published Tunneling Results of Binnig et al Interpreted as Related to Surface Superconductivity in SrTiO{sub 3}

In 1980, Binnig et al. reported tunneling measurements on Nb-doped SrTiO{sub 3}, and interpreted their results as indicating two-band superconductivity in the bulk of SrTiO{sub 3}. However, (1) effective masses determined from tunneling results in the normal state by Sroubek in 1969 and 1970 are much smaller than those determined by most other methods. The much smaller masses were attributed to properties of a surface layer by the present author in 1971. (2) The only other reports of two-band superconductivity in bulk SrTiO{sub 3} can be used to infer much smaller values for the band separations than found by Binnig et al. In this paper, we give an alternative explanation of the results of Binnig et al. in terms of superconductivity in a surface layer. We obtain fair fits to the band gaps versus Fermi energy for the two bands in the three samples where two surface subbands are occupied and to the temperature dependence of the gaps in one crystal, using a model with three adjustable interaction parameters, an adjustable energy for the phonons which dominate the pairing, and an adjustable ratio of the mean-field T{sub c} to the actual T{sub c}. We show results for a combined fit to the low-temperature band gaps and to the T-dependence in one crystal. The phonon energy which gives the best fit is 21 meV. This is probably an appropriate average over the three longitudinal polar modes and acoustic modes in the material. A large value of about two is found for the ratio T{sub cmf}/T{sub c}, and we conjecture that this arises because a band with a small Fermi energy, not seen in the tunneling results, plays a part in increasing T{sub cmf}/T{sub c}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modeling of Raman-Scattering Signals in Biological Tissues by Direct and Two-Step Approaches

A search for an effective method of modelling of the Raman-spectroscopy problem in turbid (scattering) media has been performed taking into account the corresponding parameters of the detector and sample volume. A solution of the radiative-transfer equation by Monte-Carlo method underlies the proposed model. Two fundamental approaches to numerical modeling of Raman scattering are considered: the direct transport problem of Rayleigh and Raman photons at each point of the medium and the two-step model, in which a photon flux in the medium is calculated in the first stage, followed by generation of the corresponding number of Raman photons at each point.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electronic band structure and optical properties of antimony selenide under pressure

In this work we present the optical properties of Antimony Selenide (Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}) under ambient conditions and under pressure of 9.2 GPa obtained using first principles calculations. We investigated the electronic band structure using the FP-LAPW method within the sphere of the density functional theory. Optical properties like refractive index, absorption coefficient and optical conductivity are calculated using the WIEN2k code.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Characterization of the dynamic densification behavior of cerium dioxide powders as a function of green density

The uniaxial strain dynamic densification behavior of cerium dioxide powders as a function of powder compact green density is investigated in this work. Cerium dioxide powders of two particle morphologies (rod-like and equiaxed) and two green densities (55% and 62.5% TMD) are shock compressed using the gas gun with specifically designed fixtures and their particle and shock wave velocities are measured using VISAR and multiple PDV probes. The obtained data describe the Hugoniot of the shocked cerium dioxide powders. Finally, the method used to produce this high fidelity Hugoniot data for cerium dioxide powders is discussed and preliminary data are shown.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Variational Principle for Mass Transport

A variation principle for mass transport in solids is derived that recasts transport coefficients as minima of local thermodynamic average quantities. The result is independent of diffusion mechanisms and applies to amorphous and crystalline systems. This unifies different computational approaches for diffusion and provides a framework for the creation of new approximation methods with error estimation. It gives a different physical interpretation of the Green function. Lastly, the variational principle quantifies the accuracy of competing approaches for a nontrivial diffusion problem.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗