We present a high-resolution microwave spectrometer to measure the frequency-dependent complex conductivity of a superconducting thin film near the critical temperature. The instrument is based on a broadband measurement of the complex reflection coefficient, $S_{\rm 11}$, of a coaxial transmission line, which is terminated to a thin film sample with the electrodes in a Corbino disk shape. In the vicinity of the critical temperature, the standard calibration technique using three known standards fails to extract the strong frequency dependence of the complex conductivity induced by the superconducting fluctuations. This is because a small unexpected difference between the phase parts of $S_{\rm 11}$ for a short and load standards gives rise to a large error in the detailed frequency dependence of the complex conductivity near the superconducting transition. We demonstrate that a new calibration procedure using the normal-state conductivity of a sample as a load standard resolves this difficulty. The high quality performance of this spectrometer, which covers the frequency range between 0.1 GHz and 10 GHz, the temperature range down to 10 K, and the magnetic field range up to 1 T, is illustrated by the experimental results on several thin films of both conventional and high temperature superconductors.
The characteristic frequencies of a system provide important information on the phenomena that govern its physical properties. In this framework, there has recently been renewed interest in cryogenic microwave characterization for condensed matter systems since it allows to probe energy scales of the order of a few $μ$eV. However, broadband measurements of the absolute value of a sample response in this frequency range are extremely sensitive to its environment and require a careful calibration. In this paper, we present an \textit{in situ} calibration method for cryogenic broadband microwave …
In recent years, interesting materials have emerged which are only available as micron-scale flakes, and whose novel physics might be better understood through broadband microwave spectroscopy; examples include twisted bilayer graphene [1], 2D materials in which many-body phases are observed [2], and artificial lattices for analog quantum simulations [3]. Most previous techniques are unfortunately not sensitive for flakes below mm lateral sizes. We propose a simple technique which does not require sophisticated sample preparation nor Ohmic contact and show through theory and simulations that o…
We develop an explicitly gauge-invariant semiclassical approach to investigate nonlinear response of superconductors to monochromatic THz radiation. We demonstrate that in clean superconductors charge conservation forbids non-linear response to a uniform field. We apply our approach to quasi-two-dimensional films and obtain an explicit expression for the photoinduced current. We find that the photoinduced current exhibits a strong dependence on polarization and incidence angle of the radiation. Our predictions may be directly verified in experiments with quasi-two-dimensional superconducting f…
Superconducting fluctuations in FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ thin films probed via microwave spectroscopy
我们研究了FeSe $_{0.5}$ Te $_{0.5}$在CaF $_2$上外延薄膜在超导转变附近的微波电导率谱。随着薄膜厚度的增加，我们观察到了超导涨落的临界行为，并出现了从二维到三维的空间交叉。由标度参数的温度依赖性，我们得出FeSe $_{0.5}$ Te $_{0.5}$超导转变的普适类是3D-XY模型。超导波动的起始温度的下限，Tonset，由我们的测量确定的是1.1 Tc，这表明FeSe $_{0.5}$ Te $_{0.5}$的超导波动至少与最佳和过掺杂的铜酸盐一样大。
The morphological, transport and terahertz optical properties of DC magnetron sputtered granular molybdenum thin-films with nano-grains embedded in an amorphous matrix have been studied in the normal and superconducting states. The superconducting transition temperatures of these films are much higher than that of bulk molybdenum. The optical properties of these thin-films have been studied using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Their properties have been compared with the existing materials used for the development of radiation detectors. The resistivity of the films lies in >100 micro-Ohm…
Peak effect in a superconducting DyBa2Cu3O7-y film at microwave frequencies
我们报告的观察峰的微波（9.55 GHz）的表面电阻在外延DyBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-y超导薄膜中的磁场（平行于c轴）范围在0.2至0.9特斯拉。这样的峰值在零场中进行的测量中不存在。峰的温度和场依赖性表明，该峰可能与反映磁通线晶格中的有序-无序转变的峰效应现象有关。观察到在接近磁通线晶格的脱钉频率的频率处的这种峰值效应的强烈依赖性。
Superconducting gap anisotropy of LuNi2B2C thin films from microwave surface impedance measurements
用介质谐振器技术测量了LuNi_2B_2C超导薄膜在1.5K和20GHz下的表面阻抗随温度的变化。磁穿透深度接近地再现了标准的B.C.S.结果，但在低温下具有减小的能隙值。这些数据提供了证据的各向异性s波字符的序参量对称性LuNi 2 B 2 C。从评价的实部复杂的电导率，我们已经观察到建设性的（II型）相干效应低于Tc的电磁吸收。
It is now well known that the properties of the disordered s wave superconductors can deviate significantly from the prediction of standard Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory. By measuring the temperature dependence of the resonance frequency, $f_0$, of microwave resonators made from disordered NbTiN and TiN thin films, at low temperatures, below half of the superconducting critical temperature, $T_c$, Driessen et al. \cite{driessen2012PRL} demonstrated that $f_0$ vanishes faster than predicted from the BCS theory. Here, we report on the temperature dependence of $f_0$ of microwave resonat…
Microwave quantum memory promises advanced capabilities for noisy intermediate-scale superconducting quantum computers. Existing approaches to microwave quantum memory lack complete combination of high efficiency, long storage time, noiselessness and multi-qubit capacity. Here we report an efficient microwave broadband multimode quantum memory. The memory stores two spectral modes of single photon level microwave radiation in on-chip system of eight coplanar superconducting resonators. Single mode storage shows a power efficiency of up to $60\pm 3\%$ at single photon energy and more than $73\p…
Boron-doped diamond granular thin films are known to exhibit superconductivity with an optimal critical temperature of Tc = 7.2K. Here we report the measured complex surface impedance of Boron-doped diamond films in the microwave frequency range using a resonant technique. Experimentally measured inductance values are in good agreement with estimates obtained from the normal state sheet resistance of the material. The magnetic penetration depth temperature dependence is consistent with that of a fully-gapped s-wave superconductor. Boron-doped diamond films should find application where high ki…
The Cooper-pair transistor (CPT), a small superconducting island enclosed between two Josephson weak links, is the atomic building block of various superconducting quantum circuits. Utilizing gate-tunable semiconductor channels as weak links, the energy scale associated with the Josephson tunneling can be changed with respect to the charging energy of the island, tuning the extent of its charge fluctuations. Here, we directly demonstrate this control by mapping the energy level structure of a CPT made of an indium arsenide nanowire (NW) with a superconducting aluminum shell. We extract the dev…
Measurement of the nonlinear Meissner effect in superconducting Nb films using a resonant microwave cavity: A probe of unconventional pairing symmetries
We present an experimental approach for cryogenic dielectric measurements on ultra-thin insulating films. Based on a coplanar microwave waveguide design we implement superconducting quarter-wave resonators with inductive coupling, which allows us to determine the real part $\varepsilon_1$ of the dielectric function at GHz frequencies and for sample thicknesses down to a few nm. We perform simulations to optimize resonator coupling and sensitivity, and we demonstrate the possibility to quantify $\varepsilon_1$ with a conformal mapping technique in a wide sample-thickness and $\varepsilon_1$-reg…
