arXiv subjects

G. Faini

Publications and source records attributed to G. Faini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Direct probing of band-structure Berry phase in diluted magnetic semiconductors

We report on experimental evidence of the Berry phase accumulated by the charge carrier wave function in single-domain nanowires made from a (Ga,Mn)(As,P) diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor layer. Its signature on the mesoscopic transport measurements is revealed as unusual patterns in the magnetoconductance, that are clearly distinguished from the universal conductance fluctuations. We show that these patterns appear in a magnetic field region where the magnetization rotates coherently and are related to a change in the band-structure Berry phase as the magnetization direction changes. They should be thus considered as a band structure Berry phase fingerprint of the effective magnetic monopoles in the momentum space. We argue that this is an efficient method to vary the band structure in a controlled way and to probe it directly. Hence, (Ga,Mn)As appears to be a very interesting test bench for new concepts based on this geometrical phase.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Unusual magneto-transport of YBa2Cu3O7-d films due to the interplay of anisotropy, random disorder and nanoscale periodic pinning

We study the general problem of a manifold of interacting elastic lines whose spatial correlations are strongly affected by the competition between random and ordered pinning. This is done through magneto-transport experiments with YBa2Cu3O7-d thin films that contain a periodic vortex pinning array created via masked ion irradiation, in addition to the native random pinning. The strong field-matching effects we observe suggest the prevalence of periodic pinning, and indicate that at the matching field each vortex line is bound to an artificial pinning site. However, the vortex-glass transition dimensionality, quasi-2D instead of the usual 3D, evidences reduced vortex-glass correlations along the vortex line. This is also supported by an unusual angular dependence of the magneto-resistance, which greatly differs from that of Bose-glass systems. A quantitative analysis of the angular magnetoresistance allows us to link this behaviour to the enhancement of the system anisotropy, a collateral effect of the ion irradiation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Freezing and melting of vortex ice

We report on the realization of artificial ice using superconducting vortices in geometrically frustrated pinning arrays. This vortex ice shows two unique properties among artificial ice systems. The first comes from the possibility to switch the array geometric frustration on/off through temperature variations, which allows "freezing" and "melting" the vortex ice. The second is that the depinning and dynamics of the frozen vortex ice are insensitive to annealing, which implies that the ordered ground state is spontaneously approached. The major role of thermal fluctuations and the strong vortex-vortex interactions are at the origin of this unusual behavior.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Toward terahertz heterodyne detection with superconducting Josephson nano-junctions

In this letter, we present the study of the high-frequency mixing properties of ion irradiated YBa2Cu3O7 Josephson nano-junctions. The frequency range, spanning above and below the characteristic frequencies fc of the junctions, permits clear observation of the transition between two mixing regimes. The experimental conversion gain was found to be in good agreement with the prediction of the three ports model. Finally, we discuss the potential of the junctions to build a Josephson mixer operating in the terahertz frequency range.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Quantum coherence engineering in the integer quantum Hall regime

We present an experiment where the quantum coherence in the edge states of the integer quantum Hall regime is tuned with a decoupling gate. The coherence length is determined by measuring the visibility of quantum interferences in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a function of temperature, in the quantum Hall regime at filling factor two. The temperature dependence of the coherence length can be varied by a factor of two. The strengthening of the phase coherence at finite temperature is shown to arise from a reduction of the coupling between co-propagating edge states. This opens the way for a strong improvement of the phase coherence of Quantum Hall systems. The decoupling gate also allows us to investigate how inter-edge state coupling influence the quantum interferences' dependence on the injection bias. We find that the finite bias visibility can be decomposed into two contributions: a Gaussian envelop which is surprisingly insensitive to the coupling, and a beating component which, on the contrary, is strongly affected by the coupling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Strong field-matching effects in superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ films with vortex energy landscapes engineered via masked ion irradiation

We have developed a masked ion irradiation technique to engineer the energy landscape for vortices in oxide superconductors. This approach associates the possibility to design the landscape geometry at the nanoscale with the unique capability to adjust depth of the energy wells for vortices. This enabled us to unveil the key role of vortex channeling in modulating the amplitude of the field matching effects with the artificial energy landscape, and to make the latter govern flux dynamics over an usually wide range of temperatures and applied fields.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Imprinting nanoporous alumina patterns into the magneto-transport of oxide superconductors

We used oxygen ion irradiation to transfer the nanoscale pattern of a porous alumina mask into high- superconducting thin films. This causes a nanoscale spatial modulation of superconductivity and strongly affects the magneto-transport below, which shows a series of periodic oscillations reminiscent of the Little-Parks effect in superconducting wire networks. This irradiation technique could be extended to other oxide materials in order to induce ordered nanoscale phase segregation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Dynamics of two coupled vortices in a spin valve nanopillar excited by spin transfer torque

We investigate the dynamics of two coupled vortices driven by spin transfer. We are able to independently control with current and perpendicular field, and to detect, the respective chiralities and polarities of the two vortices. For current densities above $J=5.7*10^7 A/cm^2$, a highly coherent signal (linewidth down to 46 kHz) can be observed, with a strong dependence on the relative polarities of the vortices. It demonstrates the interest of using coupled dynamics in order to increase the coherence of the microwave signal. Emissions exhibit a linear frequency evolution with perpendicular field, with coherence conserved even at zero magnetic field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Inductance measurement of YBCO strip-lines made by ion irradiation

We have investigated the electrodynamic properties of High-Tc strip-lines made by ion irradiation, in order to evaluate the potentialities of such a technology for RSFQ superconductor digital electronic. SQUID loops of different length and width have been fabricated by ion bombardment of 70 nm thick films through e-beam lithographied shadow masks, and measured at different temperatures. The voltage modulations have been recorded by direct injection of a control current in the SQUIDs arms. The corresponding line inductances have been measured and compared with 3D simulations. A quantitative agreement has been obtained leading to typical values of 0.4 pH/microns without ground plane.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Direct observation of electronic inhomogeneities induced by point defect disorder in manganite films

We have investigated the influence of point defect disorder in the electronic properties of manganite films. Real-time mapping of ion irradiated samples conductivity was performed though conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). CAFM images show electronic inhomogeneities in the samples with different physical properties due to spatial fluctuations in the point defect distribution. As disorder increases, the distance between conducting regions increases and the metal-insulator transition shifts to lower temperatures. Transport properties in these systems can be interpreted in terms of a percolative model. The samples saturation magnetization decreases as the irradiation dose increases whereas the Curie temperature remains unchanged.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Influence of ion implantation on the magnetic and transport properties of manganite films

We have used oxygen ions irradiation to generate controlled structural disorder in thin manganite films. Conductive atomic force microscopy CAFM), transport and magnetic measurements were performed to analyze the influence of the implantation process in the physical properties of the films. CAFM images show regions with different conductivity values, probably due to the random distribution of point defect or inhomogeneous changes of the local Mn3+/4+ ratio to reduce lattice strains of the irradiated areas. The transport and magnetic properties of these systems are interpreted in this context. Metal-insulator transition can be described in the frame of a percolative model. Disorder increases the distance between conducting regions, lowering the observed TMI. Point defect disorder increases localization of the carriers due to increased disorder and locally enhanced strain field. Remarkably, even with the inhomogeneous nature of the samples, no sign of low field magnetoresistance was found. Point defect disorder decreases the system magnetization but doesn t seem to change the magnetic transition temperature. As a consequence, an important decoupling between the magnetic and the metal-insulator transition is found for ion irradiated films as opposed to the classical double exchange model scenario.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Tuning decoherence with a voltage probe

We present an experiment where we tune the decoherence in a quantum interferometer using one of the simplest object available in the physic of quantum conductors : an ohmic contact. For that purpose, we designed an electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer which has one of its two arms connected to an ohmic contact through a quantum point contact. At low temperature, we observe quantum interference patterns with a visibility up to 57%. Increasing the connection between one arm of the interferometer to the floating ohmic contact, the voltage probe, reduces quantum interferences as it probes the electron trajectory. This unique experimental realization of a voltage probe works as a trivial which-path detector whose efficiency can be simply tuned by a gate voltage.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Coupling efficiency for phase locking of a spin transfer oscillator to a microwave current

The phase locking behavior of spin transfer nano-oscillators (STNOs) to an external microwave signal is experimentally studied as a function of the STNO intrinsic parameters. We extract the coupling strength from our data using the derived phase dynamics of a forced STNO. The predicted trends on the coupling strength for phase locking as a function of intrinsic features of the oscillators i.e. power, linewidth, agility in current, are central to optimize the emitted power in arrays of mutually coupled STNOs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Magnetoresistance of antidot lattices with grain boundaries

The magnetotransport properties of antidot lattices containing artificially designed grain boundaries have been measured. We find that the grain boundaries broaden the commensurability resonances and displace them anisotropically. These phenomena are unexpectedly weak but differ characteristically from isotropic, Gaussian disorder in the antidot positions. The observations are interpreted in terms of semiclassical trajectories which tend to localize along the grain boundaries within certain magnetic field intervals. Furthermore, our results indicate how the transport through superlattices generated by self-organizing templates may get influenced by grain boundaries.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Noise dephasing in the edge states of the Integer Quantum Hall regime

An electronic Mach Zehnder interferometer is used in the integer quantum hall regime at filling factor 2, to study the dephasing of the interferences. This is found to be induced by the electrical noise existing in the edge states capacitively coupled to each others. Electrical shot noise created in one channel leads to phase randomization in the other, which destroys the interference pattern. These findings are extended to the dephasing induced by thermal noise instead of shot noise: it explains the underlying mechanism responsible for the finite temperature coherence time $τ_ϕ(T)$ of the edge states at filling factor 2, measured in a recent experiment. Finally, we present here a theory of the dephasing based on Gaussian noise, which is found in excellent agreement with our experimental results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Direct measurement of the coherence length of edge states in the Integer Quantum Hall Regime

We have determined the finite temperature coherence length of edge states in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect (IQHE) regime. This was realized by measuring the visibility of electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometers of different sizes, at filling factor 2. The visibility shows an exponential decay with the temperature. The characteristic temperature scale is found inversely proportional to the length of the interferometer arm, allowing to define a coherence length $ł_ϕ$. The variations of $ł_ϕ$ with magnetic field are the same for all samples, with a maximum located at the upper end of the quantum hall plateau. Our results provide the first accurate determination of $ł_ϕ$ in the quantum Hall regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Microwave excitations associated with a wavy angular dependence of the spin transfer torque : model and experiments

The spin transfer torque (STT) can lead to steady precession of magnetization without any external applied field in magnetic spin valve where the magnetic layer have very different spin diffusion length. This effect is associated with an unusual angular dependence of the STT, called "wavy" (WAD-STT), predicted in the frame of diffusive models of spin transfer. In this article, we present a complete experimental characterization of the magnetization dynamics in the presence of a WAD-STT. The results are compared to the prediction of the magnetization dynamics obtained by single domain magnetic simulations (macrospin approximation). The macrospin simulations well reproduced the main static and dynamical experimental features (phase diagram, R(I) curves, dependence of frequency with current and field) and suggest that the dynamical excitations observed experimentally are associated with a large angle out-of-plane precession mode. The present work validates the diffusive models of the spin transfer and underlines the role of the spin accumulation and the spin relaxation effects on the STT.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

Improving HTc Josephson Junctions (HTc JJ) by annealing: the role of vacancy-interstitial annihilation

We have studied the annealing effect in transport properties of High temperature Josephson Junctions (HTc JJ) made by ion irradiation. Low temperature annealing (80 degrees Celsius) increases the JJ transition temperature (TJ) and the Ic.Rn product, where Ic is the critical current and Rn the normal resistance. We found that the spread in JJ characteristics can be lowered by sufficient long annealing times. Using random walk numerical simulations, we showed that the characteristic annealing time and the evolution of the spread in JJ characteristics can be explained by a vacancy-interstitial annihilation process rather than by an oxygen diffusion one.

cond-mat.supr-con↗