arXiv subjects

R. Harris

Publications and source records attributed to R. Harris.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Landau-Zener Transitions in an Adiabatic Quantum Computer

We report an experimental measurement of Landau-Zener transitions on an individual flux qubit within a multi-qubit superconducting chip designed for adiabatic quantum computation. The method used isolates a single qubit, tunes its tunneling amplitude Delta into the limit where Delta is much less than both the temperature T and the decoherence-induced energy level broadening, and forces it to undergo a Landau-Zener transition. We find that the behavior of the qubit agrees to a high degree of accuracy with theoretical predictions for Landau-Zener transition probabilities for a double-well quantum system coupled to 1/f magnetic flux noise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Probing Noise in Flux Qubits via Macroscopic Resonant Tunneling

Macroscopic resonant tunneling between the two lowest lying states of a bistable RF-SQUID is used to characterize noise in a flux qubit. Measurements of the incoherent decay rate as a function of flux bias revealed a Gaussian shaped profile that is not peaked at the resonance point, but is shifted to a bias at which the initial well is higher than the target well. The r.m.s. amplitude of the noise, which is proportional to the decoherence rate 1/T_2^*, was observed to be weakly dependent on temperature below 70 mK. Analysis of these results indicates that the dominant source of low frequency (1/f) flux noise in this device is a quantum mechanical environment in thermal equilibrium.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Sign- and magnitude-tunable coupler for superconducting flux qubits

We experimentally confirm the functionality of a coupling element for flux-based superconducting qubits, with a coupling strength $J$ whose sign and magnitude can be tuned {\it in situ}. To measure the effective $J$, the groundstate of a coupled two-qubit system has been mapped as a function of the local magnetic fields applied to each qubit. The state of the system is determined by directly reading out the individual qubits while tunneling is suppressed. These measurements demonstrate that $J$ can be tuned from antiferromagnetic through zero to ferromagnetic.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Oxygen Chain Disorder as the Weak Scattering Source in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.50}$

The microwave conductivity of an ultra-pure single crystal of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.50}$ has been measured deep in the superconducting state as a continuous function of frequency from $0.5\to20$ GHz. Conductivity spectra were first measured at four temperatures below 10 K after having prepared the crystal in the so called ortho-II phase in which the CuO chain oxygen are ordered into alternating full and empty chains. These spectra exhibit features expected for quasiparticle scattering from dilute weak impurities (small scattering phaseshift) in an otherwise clean d-wave superconductor. The measurements were repeated on the same crystal after heating and then rapidly quenching the sample to reduce the degree of oxygen order in the CuO chains. With the increased disorder, the conductivity spectra retain the distinctive weak-limit scattering features, but have increased widths reflecting an increase in quasiparticle scattering. These measurements unambiguously establish that CuO chain oxygen disorder is the dominant source of in-plane quasiparticle scattering in high purity YBCO.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Phenomenology of a-axis and b-axis charge dynamics from microwave spectroscopy of highly ordered YBa2Cu3O6.50 and YBa2Cu3O6.993

Extensive measurements of the microwave conductivity of highly pure and oxygen-ordered \YBCO single crystals have been performed as a means of exploring the intrinsic charge dynamics of a d-wave superconductor. Broadband and fixed-frequency microwave apparatus together provide a very clear picture of the electrodynamics of the superconducting condensate and its thermally excited nodal quasiparticles. The measurements reveal the existence of very long-lived excitations deep in the superconducting state, as evidenced by sharp cusp-like conductivity spectra with widths that fall well within our experimental bandwidth. We present a phenomenological model of the microwave conductivity that captures the physics of energy-dependent quasiparticle dynamics in a d-wave superconductor which, in turn, allows us to examine the scattering rate and oscillator strength of the thermally excited quasiparticles as functions of temperature. Our results are in close agreement with the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham sum rule, giving confidence in both our experiments and the phenomenological model. Separate experiments for currents along the $\hat a$ and $\hat b$ directions of detwinned crystals allow us to isolate the role of the CuO chain layers in \YBCO, and a model is presented that incorporates both one-dimensional conduction from the chain electrons and two-dimensional transport associated with the \cuplane plane layers.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Absolute values of the London penetration depth in YBa2Cu3O6+y measured by zero field ESR spectroscopy on Gd doped single crystals

Zero-field electron spin resonance (ESR) of dilute Gd ions substituted for Y in the cuprate superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{\rm 6+y}$ is used as a novel technique for measuring the absolute value of the low temperature magnetic penetration depth $λ(T\to 0)$. The Gd ESR spectrum of samples with $\approx 1%$ substitution was obtained with a broadband microwave technique that measures power absorption bolometrically from 0.5 GHz to 21 GHz. This ESR spectrum is determined by the crystal field that lifts the level degeneracy of the spin 7/2 Gd$^{3+}$ ion and details of this spectrum provide information concerning oxygen ordering in the samples. The magnetic penetration depth is obtained by relating the number of Gd ions exposed to the microwave magnetic field to the frequency-integrated intensity of the observed ESR transitions. This technique has allowed us to determine precise values of $λ$ for screening currents flowing in the three crystallographic orientations ($\hat a$, $\hat b$ and $\hat c$) in samples of Gd$_{\rm x}$Y$_{\rm 1-x}$Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+{\rm y}}$ of three different oxygen contents ${\rm y}=0.993$ ($T_c = 89$ K), ${\rm y}=0.77$ ($T_c=75$ K) and ${\rm y}=0.52$ ($T_c=56$ K). The in-plane values are found to depart substantially from the widely reported relation $T_c\propto 1/λ^2$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Bolometric technique for high-resolution broadband microwave spectroscopy of ultra-low-loss samples

A novel low temperature bolometric method has been devised and implemented for high-precision measurements of the microwave surface resistance of small single-crystal platelet samples having very low absorption, as a continuous function of frequency. The key to the success of this non-resonant method is the in-situ use of a normal metal reference sample that calibrates the absolute rf field strength. The sample temperature can be controlled independently of the 1.2 K liquid helium bath, allowing for measurements of the temperature evolution of the absorption. However, the instrument's sensitivity decreases at higher temperatures, placing a limit on the useful temperature range. Using this method, the minimum detectable power at 1.3 K is 1.5 pW, corresponding to a surface resistance sensitivity of $\approx$1 $μΩ$ for a typical 1 mm$\times$1 mm platelet sample.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Observation of Weak-Limit Quasiparticle Scattering via Broadband Microwave Spectroscopy of a d-Wave Superconductor

There has long been a discrepancy between microwave conductivity measurements in high temperature superconductors and the conductivity spectrum expected in the simplest models for impurity scattering in a d-wave superconductor. Here we present a new type of broadband measurement of microwave surface resistance that finally shows some of the spectral features expected for a d_{x^2-y^2} pairing state. Cusp-shaped conductivity spectra, consistent with weak impurity scattering of nodal quasiparticles, were obtained in the 0.6-21 GHz frequency range in highly ordered crystals of YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.50} and YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.99}.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Microwave Conductivity due to Impurity Scattering in a d-wave Superconductor

The self-consistent t-matrix approximation for impurity scattering in unconventional superconductors is used to interpret recent measurements of the temperature and frequency dependence of the microwave conductivity of YBCO crystals below 20K. In this theory, the conductivity is expressed in terms of a fequency dependent single particle self-energy, determined by the impurity scattering phase shift which is small for weak (Born) scattering and approaches $π/ 2$ for unitary scattering. Inverting this process, microwave conductivity data are used to extract an effective single-particle self-energy and obtain insight into the nature of the operative scattering processes. It is found that the effective self-energy is well approximated by a constant plus a linear term in frequency with a small positive slope for thermal quasiparticle energies below 20K. Possible physical origins of this form of self-energy are discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1998

Microwave Spectroscopy of Thermally Excited Quasiparticles in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.99}

We present here the microwave surface impedance of a high purity crystal of $YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.99}$ measured at 5 frequencies between 1 and 75 GHz. This data set reveals the main features of the conductivity spectrum of the thermally excited quasiparticles in the superconducting state. Below 20 K there is a regime of extremely long quasiparticle lifetimes, due to both the collapse of inelastic scattering below $T_c$ and the very weak impurity scattering in the high purity $BaZrO_3$-grown crystal used in this study. Above 20 K, the scattering increases dramatically, initially at least as fast as $T^4$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1998

Generalized Thermal Lattice Gases

We show how to employ thermal lattice gas models to describe non-equilibrium phenomena. This is achieved by relaxing the restrictions of the usual micro-canonical ensemble for these models via the introduction of thermal ``demons'' in the style of Creutz. Within the Lattice Boltzmann approximation, we then derive general expressions for the usual transport coefficients of such models, in terms of the derivatives of their equilibrium distribution functions. To illustrate potential applications, we choose a model obeying Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, and simulate Rayleigh-Bénard convection with a forcing term and a temperature gradient, both of which are continuously variable.

comp-gas↗

arXiv1993

Hydrodynamic behaviour of Lattice Boltzmann and Lattice BGK models

We present a numerical analysis of the validity of classical and generalized hydrodynamics for Lattice Boltzmann Equation (LBE) and Lattice BGK methods in two and three dimensions, as a function of the collision parameters of these models. Our analysis is based on the wave-number dependence of the evolution operator. Good ranges of validity are found for BGK models as long as the relaxation time is chosen smaller than or equal to unity. The additional freedom in the choice of collision parameters for LBE models does not seem to give significant improvement.

comp-gas↗