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Voss JN, Schön Y, Wildermuth M, Dorer D, Cole JH, Rotzinger H, Ustinov AV. Eliminating Quantum Phase Slips in Superconducting Nanowires. ACS NANO 2021; 15:4108-4114. [PMID: 33596045 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c08721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In systems with reduced dimensions, quantum fluctuations have a strong influence on the electronic conduction, even at very low temperatures. In superconductors, this is especially interesting, since the coherent state of the superconducting electrons strongly interacts with these fluctuations and therefore is a sensitive tool to study them. In this paper, we report on comprehensive measurements of superconducting nanowires in the quantum phase slip regime. Using an intrinsic electromigration process, we have developed a method to lower the nanowire's resistance in situ and therefore eliminate quantum phase slips in small consecutive steps. We observe critical (Coulomb) blockade voltages and superconducting critical currents, in good agreement with theoretical models. Between these two regimes, we find a continuous transition displaying a nonlinear metallic-like behavior. The reported intrinsic electromigration technique is not limited to low temperatures, as we find a similar change in resistance that spans over 3 orders of magnitude also at room temperature. Aside from superconducting quantum circuits, such a technique to reduce the resistance may also have applications in modern electronic circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Nicolas Voss
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Yannick Schön
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Micha Wildermuth
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Dominik Dorer
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jared H Cole
- Chemical and Quantum Physics, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Hannes Rotzinger
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institute for Quantum Materials and Technologies, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Alexey V Ustinov
- Physikalisches Institut, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institute for Quantum Materials and Technologies, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
- National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow 119049, Russia
- Russian Quantum Center, Skolkovo, Moscow 143025, Russia
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Analysis of the geometric phase for a nanowire-bridged superconducting Fabry-Perot resonator. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8428. [PMID: 31182767 PMCID: PMC6557848 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44754-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The geometric phases of a nanowire-bridged superconducting Fabry-Perot resonator subjected to a microwave transmission have been investigated through its modelling into a RLC-circuit. Because the Hamiltonian of the system is a somewhat complicated form, special mathematical techniques, such as the invariant operator method and the unitary transformation approach, have been adopted in order to treat the system; These methods are very useful for managing complicated time-dependent Hamiltonian systems. We have rigorously evaluated the analytical geometric phases in both the Fock and coherent states. Typically, the geometric phases oscillate and the amplitude of such oscillations tend to grow over time. The influence of parameters of the system on the geometric phases has been analyzed in detail through the relevant illustrations. From our research, the concept of geometric phases and associated quantum mechanical characters of the system has been clarified. Our investigation for the geometric phases is useful for understanding topological features of the system, that take place through the evolution of the wave functions.
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Sawtelle SD, Kobos ZA, Reed MA. Critical temperature in feedback-controlled electromigration of gold nanostructures. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2019; 30:015201. [PMID: 30362467 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aae673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper presents several experiments demonstrating the need for a more nuanced picture of electromigration (EM) than that of a fixed critical junction temperature at which EM onset occurs. Our data suggests that even for a fixed cross-sectional geometry the critical junction temperature for EM, T c , varies with environmental temperature, thermal resistance of adjacent regions, and even the direction of the current flow in asymmetric structures. We have performed feedback-controlled EM on nanowires at environmental temperatures between 75 and 260 K and fit the EM onset points with a constant junction power model. We find that average fit critical power is monotonically increasing with decreasing temperature, but is decidedly nonlinear at lower temperatures. We extract and compare the corresponding T c values using several different thermal models which utilize measured values of nanowire thermal conductivity for our devices: these models all agree on a moderately increasing T c with decreasing environmental temperature. This is tentatively explained by enhanced current-driven annealing on the voltage ramp prior to EM onset which decreases structural scattering, thereby increasing the critical temperature at which wind-force-driven hopping events will achieve a critical atomic flux. We also obtain fit critical power for a series of bowtie structures of identical constriction but varying adjacent thermal resistance (R th ), and estimate that T c in the constriction varies with R th for higher resistance structures. Critical power measurements on a second series of asymmetric bowties further suggests that T c also depends on the alignment of the electron flow with the temperature gradient at the constriction.
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Affiliation(s)
- S D Sawtelle
- Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 United States of America
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Lombardo J, Jelić ŽL, Baumans XDA, Scheerder JE, Nacenta JP, Moshchalkov VV, Van de Vondel J, Kramer RBG, Milošević MV, Silhanek AV. In situ tailoring of superconducting junctions via electro-annealing. NANOSCALE 2018; 10:1987-1996. [PMID: 29319073 DOI: 10.1039/c7nr08571k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate the in situ engineering of superconducting nanocircuitry by targeted modulation of material properties through high applied current densities. We show that the sequential repetition of such customized electro-annealing in a niobium (Nb) nanoconstriction can broadly tune the superconducting critical temperature Tc and the normal-state resistance Rn in the targeted area. Once a sizable Rn is reached, clear magneto-resistance oscillations are detected along with a Fraunhofer-like field dependence of the critical current, indicating the formation of a weak link but with further adjustable characteristics. Advanced Ginzburg-Landau simulations fully corroborate this picture, employing the detailed parametrization from the electrical characterization and high resolution electron microscope images of the region within the constriction where the material has undergone amorphization by electro-annealing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Lombardo
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium.
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Baumans XDA, Lombardo J, Brisbois J, Shaw G, Zharinov VS, He G, Yu H, Yuan J, Zhu B, Jin K, Kramer RBG, de Vondel JV, Silhanek AV. Healing Effect of Controlled Anti-Electromigration on Conventional and High-T c Superconducting Nanowires. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2017; 13:1700384. [PMID: 28544388 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201700384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Revised: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The electromigration process has the potential capability to move atoms one by one when properly controlled. It is therefore an appealing tool to tune the cross section of monoatomic compounds with ultimate resolution or, in the case of polyatomic compounds, to change the stoichiometry with the same atomic precision. As demonstrated here, a combination of electromigration and anti-electromigration can be used to reversibly displace atoms with a high degree of control. This enables a fine adjustment of the superconducting properties of Al weak links, whereas in Nb the diffusion of atoms leads to a more irreversible process. In a superconductor with a complex unit cell (La2-x Cex CuO4 ), the electromigration process acts selectively on the oxygen atoms with no apparent modification of the structure. This allows to adjust the doping of this compound and switch from a superconducting to an insulating state in a nearly reversible fashion. In addition, the conditions needed to replace feedback controlled electromigration by a simpler technique of electropulsing are discussed. These findings have a direct practical application as a method to explore the dependence of the characteristic parameters on the exact oxygen content and pave the way for a reversible control of local properties of nanowires.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier D A Baumans
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Joseph Lombardo
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Jérémy Brisbois
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Gorky Shaw
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Vyacheslav S Zharinov
- INPAC - Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ge He
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Heshan Yu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Jie Yuan
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Beiyi Zhu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Kui Jin
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Roman B G Kramer
- Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut NEEL, F-38000, Grenoble, France
- CNRS, Institut NEEL, F-38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Joris Van de Vondel
- INPAC - Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alejandro V Silhanek
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
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Baumans XDA, Zharinov VS, Raymenants E, Blanco Alvarez S, Scheerder JE, Brisbois J, Massarotti D, Caruso R, Tafuri F, Janssens E, Moshchalkov VV, Van de Vondel J, Silhanek AV. Statistics of localized phase slips in tunable width planar point contacts. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44569. [PMID: 28300182 PMCID: PMC5353587 DOI: 10.1038/srep44569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The main dissipation mechanism in superconducting nanowires arises from phase slips. Thus far, most of the studies focus on long nanowires where coexisting events appear randomly along the nanowire. In the present work we investigate highly confined phase slips at the contact point of two superconducting leads. Profiting from the high current crowding at this spot, we are able to shrink in-situ the nanoconstriction. This procedure allows us to investigate, in the very same sample, thermally activated phase slips and the probability density function of the switching current Isw needed to trigger an avalanche of events. Furthermore, for an applied current larger than Isw, we unveil the existence of two distinct thermal regimes. One corresponding to efficient heat removal where the constriction and bath temperatures remain close to each other, and another one in which the constriction temperature can be substantially larger than the bath temperature leading to the formation of a hot spot. Considering that the switching current distribution depends on the exact thermal properties of the sample, the identification of different thermal regimes is of utmost importance for properly interpreting the dissipation mechanisms in narrow point contacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier D A Baumans
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Vyacheslav S Zharinov
- INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Eline Raymenants
- INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sylvain Blanco Alvarez
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Jeroen E Scheerder
- INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jérémy Brisbois
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
| | - Davide Massarotti
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell´ Informazione, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, I-81031, Aversa, Ce, Italy.,CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Monte S.Angelo-via Cinthia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
| | - Roberta Caruso
- CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Monte S.Angelo-via Cinthia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy.,Dipartimento di Fisica "E. Pancini", Università degli Studi di Napoli 'Federico II', Monte S.Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Francesco Tafuri
- CNR-SPIN UOS Napoli, Monte S.Angelo-via Cinthia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy.,Dipartimento di Fisica "E. Pancini", Università degli Studi di Napoli 'Federico II', Monte S.Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Ewald Janssens
- Laboratory of Solid State Physics and Magnetism, KU Leuven, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Victor V Moshchalkov
- INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Joris Van de Vondel
- INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alejandro V Silhanek
- Experimental Physics of Nanostructured Materials, Q-MAT, CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
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