Applied Physics Letters

Optical control of microwave propagation in superconducting devices

N. E. Glass, Daniel N. Rogovin

Published Jan 9, 1989• 16 citations

Abstract

We have examined a theory of the microwave electrodynamics of superconducting films driven far from equilibrium by laser radiation and have found that low laser powers can dramatically change the propagation characteristics of wave guiding devices operating at centimeter through submillimeter wavelengths. At low temperatures, the attenuation of a superconducting stripline can be enhanced by orders of magnitude at frequencies near twice the energy gap. The phase velocity of microwaves well below the pair-splitting frequency can also be dramatically changed. These changes are predicted to be achievable on subnanosecond time scales when the driving laser fields are pulsed. Such behavior offers device applications as microwave intensity modulators and phase shifters.

DOI: 10.1063/1.101221

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