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Physics World

Superconducting lasers

Published Apr 1, 1999• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Researchers at the University of Maryland in the US have discovered that arrays of superconducting devices can emit coherent radiation like a laser (P Barbara et al. 1999 Phys. Rev. Lett.82 1963). The devices, known as Josephson junctions, consist of two layers of superconductor separated by a narrow insulating gap. When a DC voltage is applied across the two superconducting layers, the devices can emit radiation as electrons tunnel through the junction.

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/12/4/4

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The emission of coherent radiation from the intrinsic Josephson junctions in the high transition temperature Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) arises from two sources: (1) the uniform part of the ac Josephson current satisfying the Josephson relation f = fJ = 2ev/h, where e is the electronic charge, v is the applied voltage per junction, and h is Planck's constant, and (2) when f = fc (n,m) matches that of the (n,m) the electromagnetic geometrical cavity mode of the thin device, the emission power can be greatly enhanced [1]. For conventional devices such as mesas carved from the top of a Bi2212 single crystal [2,4], the Bi2212 substrate not only absorbs much of the emission nearly parallel to the substrate [1], but its poor thermal conductivity leads to Joule heating,f < 1THz, and the inevitable formation of hot spots, inside of which the local temperature T(r) > Tc [5]. However, “thermally-managedstand-alone” devices constructed by removing the mesa from its Bi2212 substrate, covering its top and bottom surfaces with Au and sandwiching it between sapphire plates [3,6], narrow-linewidth emission at the world-record 2.4 THz from a superconductor was observed [7], placing a lower limit of ∆min ≥ 9.8meV on the bulk Bi2212 gap function, and filling the “THz gap” with a tunable, continuous-wave emitter. Moreover, the emission spectra from that high-symmetry disk [7] and unpublished high-symmetry square devices strongly suggest that only cavity modes obtained from wave functions that are one-dimensional representations of the appropriate point group can lead to electromagnetic cavity mode enhancements [3,7-9]. A theoretical explanation of this previously unknown restriction is presented. [1] R.A.Klemm and K.Kadowaki, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 22, 375701 (2010). [2] M. Tsujimoto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 037005 (2010). [3] M. Tsujimoto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 107006 (2012). [4] K. Delfanazari et al., Opt. Express 21, 2171 (2013). [5] H. Minami et al., Phys. Rev. B 89, 054503 (2014). [6] T. Kashiwagi et al., Phys. Rev. Applied 4, 054018 (2015). [7] T. Kashiwagi et al., Appl. Phys. Lett.107, 082601 (2015). [8] D. P. Cerkoney et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 29, 015601 (2017). [9] R. A. Klemm, A. E. Davis, and Q. X. Wang, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Electron.(2017, inpress) DOI 10.1109/JSTQE.2017.2649459

ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam)•May 1, 2017•0 citations
Researchers at the University of Maryland in the US have discovered that arrays of superconducting devices can emit coherent radiation like a laser (P Barbara et al. 1999 Phys. Rev. Lett.82 1963). The devices, known as Josephson junctions, consist of two layers of superconductor separated by a narrow insulating gap. When a DC voltage is applied across the two superconducting layers, the devices can emit radiation as electrons tunnel through the junction.
Superconducting electronic devices have reemerged as contenders for both classical and quantum computing due to their fast operation speeds, low dissipation, and long coherence times. An ultimate demonstration of coherence is lasing. We use one of the fundamental aspects of superconductivity, the ac Josephson effect, to demonstrate a laser made from a Josephson junction strongly coupled to a multimode superconducting cavity. A dc voltage bias applied across the junction provides a source of microwave photons, and the circuit's nonlinearity allows for efficient down-conversion of higher-order Josephson frequencies to the cavity's fundamental mode. The simple fabrication and operation allows for easy integration with a range of quantum devices, allowing for efficient on-chip generation of coherent microwave photons at low temperatures.
The Josephson junction is a device and constructed by separating two superconductors with an insulating barrier, which is thin enough so that super-electrons or Cooper pairs, composed of two electrons with opposite momenta and spins, formed by the electron-phonon interaction, and described as probability waves, can quantummechanically tunnel through the barrier and cause superposition and interferences. Due to the quantum e↵ect, a Josephson junction can generate and sustain an indefinitely long direct electric current or potential di↵erence, which becomes alternating one when an external voltage is applied. This paper investigates the Josephson pulse including its generation, property, and control. The results obtained from this study indicate that perturbations of the superconductors can generate strong superconducting pulses in the Josephson junction. The electric potential and field in the barrier oscillate when the two superconductors have di↵erent physical properties including the number densities of super-electrons, the phases of superconductors, and their rates of variations. The oscillations can be harmonic, combined, and purely pulse-like. The strength of the pulse increases with the di↵erences in the rates of densities and phases between the two superconductors. The pulse can be stronger in strength and narrower in width when one superconductor has lower density but higher rates of density and phase than another superconductor. Light or electromagnetic waves can perturb the superconductivities of superconductors and hence can be applied to control the pulses of Josephson junctions.
This thesis presents experimental research on Josephson junction devices that behave quantum mechanically. The devices are formed by micrometer-sized superconducting islands, that are interconnected by a Josephson tunnel junction: a thin insulating layer between two superconductors. With current microfabrication technology it is possible to make very clean and well-defined junctions. The research that is presented in this thesis aimed at investigating whether Josephson junction circuits can have quantum coherent dynamics with a long decoherence time.
The authors have detected coherent emission from two-dimensional (2D) arrays of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Josephson junctions. 2D arrays emit coherent radiation over a frequency range of 60 to 210 GHz, when coupled to detector junctions through DC-blocking capacitors. The detector junctions exhibit Shapiro steps at frequencies corresponding to the voltage across single-array junctions. The maximum power from a 10-by-10 junction-array coupled to a detector junction occurs at 150 GHz and is estimated to be 0.4 mu W, based on simulations of the detector circuit. By varying the number of array junctions, the array geometry, the junction critical current, and the coupling circuit, they have begun determining the essential conditions for observing coherent emission.
The emission of coherent radiation from the intrinsic Josephson junctions in the high transition temperature Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) arises from two sources: (1) the uniform part of the ac Josephson current satisfying the Josephson relation f = fJ = 2ev/h, where e is the electronic charge, v is the applied voltage per junction, and h is Planck's constant, and (2) when f = fc (n,m) matches that of the (n,m) the electromagnetic geometrical cavity mode of the thin device, the emission power can be greatly enhanced [1]. For conventional devices such as mesas carved from the top of a Bi2212 single crystal [2,4], the Bi2212 substrate not only absorbs much of the emission nearly parallel to the substrate [1], but its poor thermal conductivity leads to Joule heating,f < 1THz, and the inevitable formation of hot spots, inside of which the local temperature T(r) > Tc [5]. However, “thermally-managedstand-alone” devices constructed by removing the mesa from its Bi2212 substrate, covering its top and bottom surfaces with Au and sandwiching it between sapphire plates [3,6], narrow-linewidth emission at the world-record 2.4 THz from a superconductor was observed [7], placing a lower limit of ∆min ≥ 9.8meV on the bulk Bi2212 gap function, and filling the “THz gap” with a tunable, continuous-wave emitter. Moreover, the emission spectra from that high-symmetry disk [7] and unpublished high-symmetry square devices strongly suggest that only cavity modes obtained from wave functions that are one-dimensional representations of the appropriate point group can lead to electromagnetic cavity mode enhancements [3,7-9]. A theoretical explanation of this previously unknown restriction is presented. [1] R.A.Klemm and K.Kadowaki, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 22, 375701 (2010). [2] M. Tsujimoto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 037005 (2010). [3] M. Tsujimoto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 107006 (2012). [4] K. Delfanazari et al., Opt. Express 21, 2171 (2013). [5] H. Minami et al., Phys. Rev. B 89, 054503 (2014). [6] T. Kashiwagi et al., Phys. Rev. Applied 4, 054018 (2015). [7] T. Kashiwagi et al., Appl. Phys. Lett.107, 082601 (2015). [8] D. P. Cerkoney et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 29, 015601 (2017). [9] R. A. Klemm, A. E. Davis, and Q. X. Wang, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Electron.(2017, inpress) DOI 10.1109/JSTQE.2017.2649459