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It is a well known phenomenon in optics that spectroscopic resolution of a diffraction grating is much better compared to an interference device having just two slits, as in the Young's famous double-slit experiment. On the other hand, it is well known that a classical superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is analogous to the optical double-slit experiment. Here we report experiments and present a model describing a superconducting analogue to the diffraction grating, namely an array of superconducting islands positioned on a topological insulator (TI) film Bi0.8Sb1.2Te3. In the limit of extremely weak field, of the order of one vortex per the entire array, such devices exhibit a critical current peak that is much sharper than the analogous peak of an ordinary SQUID. Because of this, such arrays can be used as sensitive absolute magnetic field sensors. An important finding is that, due to the inherent asymmetry of such arrays, the device also acts as a superconducting diode., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

Microseismicity in subsurface geologic environments, such as sandstone gas reservoirs, is expected in the presence of liquid or gas injection. Although difficult to predict, the potential for microseismic events is important to field-scale projects, such as geologic storage of CO2 whereby the gas is injected into natural sandstone formations. We conjecture that a primary factor causing microseismicity is the existence of metastable states in granular porous medium and provide experimental evidence for its validity. External perturbation trigger abrupt relaxation events, which, with a certain probability, can grow into macroscopic microseismic events. Here the triggering perturbation is produced by cooling to a cryogenic temperature. As the "sensor" for the abrupt relaxation events we use thin Al films deposited on the sandstone surface. We show that as the temperature is varied, the films' resistance exhibits sharp jumps, which we attribute to mechanical restructuring or microfractures in the fabric of the sandstone. We checked the superconducting characteristics of the Al thin films on the sandstone and found microwave-induced Shapiro steps on the voltage-current diagrams. Such quantized steps provide indicates that the film is made of a network of nanobridges, which makes it ever more sensitive to abrupt relaxation events occurring in the substrate, i.e., in the underlying sandstone.

Sandstone mechanical stability is of key concern in projects involving injections of CO2 in sandstone geological reservoirs, for the purpose of long-term storage. We developed a method to measure nanometer-scale deformations of sandstones in real time. We demonstrate that Berea sandstone, when hydrated, changes dimensions with a relative deformation of the order of 10^(-4). If the moisture content increases, sandstone samples exhibit an extension and if the moisture content decreases then the samples shrink. We also discover that, immediately after exposure to water, the sandstone temporarily shrinks, just for a few seconds, after which a slow extension begins, and continues until about half of the fluid evaporates. Such shrinkage followed by an extension has been observed also when the sample was exposed to acetone, Mineral Spirits or Vacuum Oil. The results are obtained using a high-resolution nano-positioner technique and, in independent experiments, confirmed using the technique of coda wave interferometry., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

We fabricate nanolayer alumina capacitor and apply high electric fields, close to 1 GV/m, to inject charges in the dielectric. Asymmetric charge distributions have been achieved due to the selectivity of the quantum tunneling process. Namely, the electrons cannot tunnel to a region near cathode, where the total energy would be less than the potential energy. This mechanism exhibits a strong tendency to populate charge traps located near the anode, i.e., the regions where their potential energy is the lowest. This charge injection allows a permanent storage of the bulk charge even if the capacitor plates are short-circuited, provided that the temperature is sufficiently low so that the conductivity of the dielectric is negligible. In our experiments, the total charge stored in the dielectric was up to seven and a half times higher than the charge stored on the capacitor plates. Also, measurements of the breakdown voltage show that the breakdown electric field, i.e., the dielectric strength, is independent of the thickness of the dielectric., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

We report superconducting kinetic inductance memory (SKIM) element, which can be controlled exclusively by the bias supercurrent, without involving magnetic fields and heating elements. The SKIM is non-volatile memory. The device is made of Nb and it can operate reliable up to 2.8 K. The achieved error rate is as low as one in 100000 operations., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

The main mechanism of energy loss in capacitors with nanoscale dielectric films is leakage currents. Using the example of Al-Al2O3-Al, we show that there are two main contributions, namely the cold field emission effect and the hopping conductivity through the dielectric. Our main finding is that an application of a high electric field, ~0.6-0.7 GV/m, causes electrons to penetrate the dielectric. If the temperature is sufficiently low, such electrons become permanently trapped in the dielectric. To achieve a strong charging of the dielectric, the voltage needs to be high enough, so that a field emission occurs from the cathode into the dielectric. Such a strongly charged dielectric layer generates a Coulomb barrier and leads to a suppression of the leakage current. Thus, after the dielectric nanolayer of the capacitor is charged, the field emission and the hopping conductivity are both suppressed, and the hysteresis of the I-V curve disappears. The phenomenon is observed at temperatures up to ~225 K. It would be advantageous to identify insulators in which the phenomenon of the Coulomb barriers persists even up to the room temperature, but at this time it is not known whether such dielectrics exist and/or can be designed., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures

We study one dimensional chains of superconducting islands with a particular emphasis on the regime in which every second island is switched into its normal state, thus forming a superconductor-insulator-normal metal (S-I-N) repetition pattern. As is known since Giaever tunneling experiments, tunneling charge transport between a superconductor and a normal metal becomes exponentially suppressed, and zero-bias resistance diverges, as the temperature is reduced and the energy gap of the superconductor grows larger than the thermal energy. Here we demonstrate that this physical phenomenon strongly impacts transport properties of inhomogeneous superconductors made of weakly coupled islands with fluctuating values of the critical temperature. We observe a non-monotonous dependence of the chain resistance on both temperature and magnetic field, with a pronounced resistance peak at temperatures at which some but not all islands are superconducting. We explain this phenomenon by the inhomogeneity of the chains, in which neighboring superconducting islands have slightly different critical temperatures. We argue that the Giaever's resistance divergence can also occur in the zero-temperature limit. Such quantum transition can occur if the magnetic field is tuned such that it suppresses superconductivity in the islands with the weaker critical field, while the islands with stronger energy gap remain superconducting. In such a field, the system acts as a chain of S-I-N junctions., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures

The demand for low-dissipation nanoscale memory devices is as strong as ever. As Moore's Law is staggering, and the demand for a low-power-consuming supercomputer is high, the goal of making information processing circuits out of superconductors is one of the central goals of modern technology and physics. So far, digital superconducting circuits could not demonstrate their immense potential. One important reason for this is that a dense superconducting memory technology is not yet available. Miniaturization of traditional superconducting quantum interference devices is difficult below a few micrometers because their operation relies on the geometric inductance of the superconducting loop. Magnetic memories do allow nanometer-scale miniaturization, but they are not purely superconducting (Baek et al 2014 Nat. Commun. 5 3888). Our approach is to make nanometer scale memory cells based on the kinetic inductance (and not geometric inductance) of superconducting nanowire loops, which have already shown many fascinating properties (Aprili 2006 Nat. Nanotechnol. 1 15; Hopkins et al 2005 Science 308 1762). This allows much smaller devices and naturally eliminates magnetic-field cross-talk. We demonstrate that the vorticity, i.e., the winding number of the order parameter, of a closed superconducting loop can be used for realizing a nanoscale nonvolatile memory device. We demonstrate how to alter the vorticity in a controlled fashion by applying calibrated current pulses. A reliable read-out of the memory is also demonstrated. We present arguments that such memory can be developed to operate without energy dissipation.

We study nanodevices based on ultrathin superconducting nanowires connected in parallel to form nanowire SQUIDs. The function of the critical current versus magnetic field, $I_{C}(B)$, is multivalued, asymmetric and its maxima and minima are shifted from the usual integer and half integer flux quantum points. The nanowire interference device is qualitatively distinct from conventional SQUIDs because nanowires do not obey the same current-phase relationship (CPR) as Josephson junctions. We demonstrate that the results can be explained assuming that (i) the CPR is linear and (ii) that each wire is characterized by a sample-specific critical phase, which is usually much larger than $\pi/2$. Our proposed model offers accurate fits to $I_{C}(B)$. It explains the single-valuedness regions where only one vorticity (i.e., the order parameter winding number) is stable as well as regions where multiple vorticity values are allowed for the SQUIDs. We also observe and explain regions in which the standard deviation of the switching current is independent of the magnetic field. We develop a technique that allows a reliable detection of hidden phase-slips. Using this technique we find that our model correctly predicts the boundaries of vorticity regions, even at low currents where $I_C(B)$ is not directly measurable.

We present a new type of transmon split-junction qubit which can be tuned by Meissner screening currents in the adjacent superconducting film electrodes. The best detected relaxation time ($T_1$) was of the order of 50 $\mu$s and the dephasing time ($T_2$) about 40 $\mu$s. The achieved period of oscillation with magnetic field was much smaller than in usual SQUID-based transmon qubits, thus a strong effective field amplification has been realized. This Meissner qubit allows an efficient coupling to superconducting vortices. We present a quantitative analysis of the radiation-free energy relaxation in qubits coupled to Abrikosov vortices. The observation of coherent quantum oscillations provides strong evidence that vortices can exist in coherent quantum superpositions of different position states. According to our suggested model, the wave function collapse is defined by Caldeira-Leggett dissipation associated with viscous motion of the vortex cores., Comment: 13 pages and 9 figures; added references in the introduction section