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Proposals for quantum random access memory (QRAM) generally have a binary-tree structure, and thus require hardware that is exponential in the depth of the QRAM. For solid-state based devices, a fabrication yield that is less than $100\%$ implies that certain addresses at the bottom of the tree become inaccessible if a router in the unique path to that address is faulty. We discuss how to recover a functioning QRAM in the presence of faulty routers. We present the \texttt{IterativeRepair} algorithm, which constructs QRAMs layer by layer until the desired depth is reached. This algorithm utilizes ancilla flag qubits which reroute queries to faulty routers. We present a classical algorithm \texttt{FlagQubitMinimization} that attempts to minimize the required number of such ancilla. For a router failure rate of $1\%$ and a QRAM of depth $n=13$, we expect that on average 430 addresses need repair: we require only 1.5 ancilla flag qubits on average to perform this rerouting., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, associated code available https://github.com/dkweiss31/QRAMfaultyrouters

We study the quantum Hall effect (QHE) in the three-dimensional topological insulator HgTe, which features topological Dirac-type surface states in a bulk gap opened by strain. Despite the co-existence of multiple carrier subsystems, the system exhibits perfectly quantized Hall plateaus at high magnetic fields. Here we study the system using three different experimental techniques: Transport experiments, capacitance measurements including the quantum capacitance, and current distribution measurements using electrostatically sensitive scanning probe microscopy. Our key finding is that at sufficiently high magnetic fields, the different electronic subsystems merge into one, and the current in a quantum Hall plateau is distributed across the entire width of the Hall bar device., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to PRR

The quantum Hall effect, which exhibits a number of unusual properties, is studied in a gated 1000-nm-thick HgTe film, nominally a three-dimensional system. A weak zero plateau of Hall resistance, accompanied by a relatively small value of Rxx of the order of h/e^2, is found around the point of charge neutrality. It is shown that the zero plateau is formed by the counter-propagating chiral electron-hole edge channels, the scattering between which is suppressed. So, phenomenologically, the quantum spin Hall effect is reproduced, but with preserved ballisticity on macroscopic scales (larger than 1mm). It is shown that the formation of the QHE occurs in a two-dimensional (2D) accumulation layer near the gate, while the bulk carriers play the role of an electron reservoir. Due to the exchange of carriers between the reservoir and the 2D layer, an anomalous scaling of the QHE is observed not with respect to the CNP, but with respect to the first electron plateau., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures

We report on the observation and comprehensive study of the terahertz radiation induced magneto-photogalvanic effect (MPGE) in bulk CdHgTe crystals hosting Kane fermions. The MPGE has been detected in Cd$_{x}$Hg$_{1-x}$Te films with Cd contents $x = 0.15$ and $0.22$ subjected to an in-plane magnetic field. At liquid helium temperature we observed multiple resonances in MPGE current upon variation of magnetic field. In the $x = 0.22$ with noninverted band structure, the resonances are caused by cyclotron resonance (CR) and photoionization of an impurity level. In the $x = 0.15$ films with an inverted band structure, they originate from the CR and interband optical transitions. Band structure calculated by the Kane model perfectly describes positions of all resonances. In particularly, the resonant MPGE caused by interband transitions excited by THz radiation is caused by the gapless energy spectrum of Kane fermions realized in materials with certain Cd contents and temperature range. In addition to the resonant MPGE current we detected a nonresonant one due to indirect optical transitions (Drude-like). This contribution has a nonmonotonic magnetic field dependence increasing linearly at low magnetic field $B$, approaching a maximum at moderate field and decreasing at high $B$. While the nonresonant MPGE decreases drastically with increasing temperature, it is well measurable up to room temperature. The developed theory demonstrates that the MPGE current arises due to cubic in momentum spin-dependent terms in the scattering probability. The asymmetry caused by these effects results in a pure spin current which is converted into an electric current due to the Zeeman effect.

Exploring novel strategies to manipulate the order parameter of magnetic materials by electrical means is of great importance, not only for advancing our understanding of fundamental magnetism, but also for unlocking potential practical applications. A well-established concept to date uses gate voltages to control magnetic properties, such as saturation magnetization, magnetic anisotropies, coercive field, Curie temperature and Gilbert damping, by modulating the charge carrier population within a capacitor structure. Note that the induced carriers are non-spin-polarized, so the control via the electric-field is independent of the direction of the magnetization. Here, we show that the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) of ultrathin Fe films can be reversibly modified by a spin current generated in Pt by the spin Hall effect. The effect decreases with increasing Fe thickness, indicating that the origin of the modification can be traced back to the interface. Uniquely, the change in MCA due to the spin current depends not only on the polarity of the charge current but also on the direction of magnetization, i.e. the change in MCA has opposite sign when the direction of magnetization is reversed. The control of magnetism by the spin current results from the modified exchange splitting of majority- and minority-spin bands, and differs significantly from the manipulation by gate voltages via a capacitor structure, providing a functionality that was previously unavailable and could be useful in advanced spintronic devices.

We report on the observation of the circular ratchet effect excited by terahertz laser radiation in a specially designed two-dimensional metamaterial consisting of a graphene monolayer deposited on a graphite gate patterned with an array of triangular antidots. We show that a periodically driven Dirac fermion system with spatial asymmetry converts the a.c. power into a d.c. current, whose direction reverses when the radiation helicity is switched. The circular ratchet effect is demonstrated for room temperature and a radiation frequency of 2.54 THz. It is shown that the ratchet current magnitude can be controllably tuned by the patterned and uniform back gate voltages. The results are analyzed in the light of the developed microscopic theory considering electronic and plasmonic mechanisms of the ratchet current formation., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

We report the observation of the terahertz-induced ratchet effect in graphene-based two-dimensional (2D) metamaterials. The metamaterial consists of a graphite gate patterned with an array of triangular antidots placed under a graphene monolayer. We show that the ratchet current appears due to the noncentrosymmetry of the periodic structure unit cell. The ratchet current is generated owing to the combined action of a spatially periodic in-plane electrostatic potential and a periodically modulated radiation electric field caused by near-field diffraction. The magnitude and direction of the ratchet current are shown to be controlled by voltages applied to both back and patterned gates, which change the lateral asymmetry, carrier type and density. The phenomenological and microscopic theories of ratchet effects in graphene-based 2D metamaterials are developed. The experimental data are discussed in the light of the theory based on the solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation and the calculated electrostatic potential profile. The theory describes well all the experimental results and shows that the observed ratchet current consists of the Seebeck thermoratchet contribution as well as the linear contribution, which is sensitive to the orientation of the radiation electric field vector with respect to the triangles., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

An experimental study of Landau levels (LLs) in a system of two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions based on a critical thickness HgTe quantum well has been carried out. The magnetotransport and the capacitive response have been investigated simultaneously. It is shown that the formation of Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations associated with odd v filling factors occurs in a magnetic field whose strength grows monotonically with v. This behavior is consistent with calculations of the electron spectrum, which predicts a decrease in cyclotron gaps with increasing v. Oscillations with even filling factors, corresponding to spin gaps, behave less trivially. First, the SdH oscillations with filling factors of 4 and higher are resolved in a magnetic field that is 2-2.5 times smaller than the field required to resolve neighboring SdH oscillations with odd filling factors of 3 and higher. This indicates a significant increase in the size of the spin gap caused by an interface inversion asymmetry (IIA) leading to Dirac cone splitting in a zero magnetic field. Using the spin splitting value gamma as a fitting parameter, we obtained the best agreement between experimental data and calculations at gamma=1.5 meV. Next, spin splitting for the zeroth and first LLs is observed in 2-3 times stronger magnetic fields than for the other levels, indicating an increase in disorder near the Dirac point, due to the lack of screening., Comment: 4 figures

Quantum random access memory (QRAM) is a common architecture resource for algorithms with many proposed applications, including quantum chemistry, windowed quantum arithmetic, unstructured search, machine learning, and quantum cryptography. Here we propose two bucket-brigade QRAM architectures based on high-coherence superconducting resonators, which differ in their realizations of the conditional-routing operations. In the first, we directly construct controlled-$\mathsf{SWAP}$ ($\textsf{CSWAP}$) operations, while in the second we utilize the properties of giant-unidirectional emitters (GUEs). For both architectures we analyze single-rail and dual-rail implementations of a bosonic qubit. In the single-rail encoding we can detect first-order ancilla errors, while the dual-rail encoding additionally allows for the detection of photon losses. For parameter regimes of interest the post-selected infidelity of a QRAM query in a dual-rail architecture is nearly an order of magnitude below that of a corresponding query in a single-rail architecture. These findings suggest that dual-rail encodings are particularly attractive as architectures for QRAM devices in the era before fault tolerance., Comment: Version accepted for publication in PRX Quantum

The fluxonium qubit is a promising candidate for quantum computation due to its long coherence times and large anharmonicity. We present a tunable coupler that realizes strong inductive coupling between two heavy-fluxonium qubits, each with $\sim50$MHz frequencies and $\sim5$ GHz anharmonicities. The coupler enables the qubits to have a large tuning range of $\textit{XX}$ coupling strengths ($-35$ to $75$ MHz). The $\textit{ZZ}$ coupling strength is $<3$kHz across the entire coupler bias range, and $<100$Hz at the coupler off-position. These qualities lead to fast, high-fidelity single- and two-qubit gates. By driving at the difference frequency of the two qubits, we realize a $\sqrt{i\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate in $258$ns with fidelity $99.72\%$, and by driving at the sum frequency of the two qubits, we achieve a $\sqrt{b\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate in $102$ns with fidelity $99.91\%$. This latter gate is only 5 qubit Larmor periods in length. We run cross-entropy benchmarking for over $20$ consecutive hours and measure stable gate fidelities, with $\sqrt{b\mathrm{SWAP}}$ drift ($2 \sigma$) $< 0.02\%$ and $\sqrt{i\mathrm{SWAP}}$ drift $< 0.08\%$., Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures

We report a comprehensive study of polarized infrared/terahertz photocurrents in bulk tellurium crystals. We observe different photocurrent contributions and show that, depending on the experimental conditions, they are caused by the trigonal photogalvanic effect, the transverse linear photon drag effect, and the magnetic field induced linear and circular photogalvanic effects. All observed photocurrents have not been reported before and are well explained by the developed phenomenological and microscopic theory. We show that the effects can be unambiguously distinguished by studying the polarization, magnetic field, and radiation frequency dependence of the photocurrent. At frequencies around 30 THz, the photocurrents are shown to be caused by the direct optical transitions between subbands in the valence band. At lower frequencies of 1 to 3 THz, used in our experiment, these transitions become impossible and the detected photocurrents are caused by the indirect optical transitions (Drude-like radiation absorption)., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures

Recent theoretical work has highlighted that quantizing a superconducting circuit in the presence of time-dependent flux $\Phi(t)$ generally produces Hamiltonian terms proportional to $d\Phi/dt$ unless a special allocation of the flux across inductive terms is chosen. Here, we present an experiment probing the effects of a fast flux ramp applied to a heavy-fluxonium circuit. The experiment confirms that na\"ive omission of the $d\Phi/dt$ term leads to theoretical predictions inconsistent with experimental data. Experimental data are fully consistent with recent theory that includes the derivative term or equivalently uses "irrotational variables" that uniquely allocate the flux to properly eliminate the $d\Phi/dt$ term.

Long coherence times, large anharmonicity and robust charge-noise insensitivity render fluxonium qubits an interesting alternative to transmons. Recent experiments have demonstrated record coherence times for low-frequency fluxonia. Here, we propose a galvanic-coupling scheme with flux-tunable $\textit{XX}$ coupling. To implement a high-fidelity entangling $\sqrt{i\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate, we modulate the strength of this coupling and devise variable-time identity gates to synchronize required single-qubit operations. Both types of gates are implemented using strong ac flux drives, lasting for only a few drive periods. We employ a theoretical framework capable of capturing qubit dynamics beyond the rotating-wave approximation (RWA) as required for such strong drives. We predict an open-system fidelity of $F>0.999$ for the $\sqrt{i\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate under realistic conditions., Comment: 11+7 pages, 10 figures, comments welcome

The emergence of ratchet effects in two-dimensional materials is strongly correlated with the introduction of asymmetry into the system. In general, dual-grating-gate structures forming lateral asymmetric superlattices provide a suitable platform for studying this phenomenon. Here, we report on the observation of ratchet effects in HgTe-based dual-grating-gate structures hosting different band structure properties. Applying polarized terahertz laser radiation we detected linear and polarization independent ratchets, as well as an radiation-helicity driven circular ratchet effect. Studying the ratchet effect in devices made of quantum wells (QWs) of different thickness we observed that the magnitude of the signal substantially increases with decreasing QW width with a maximum value for devices made of QWs of critical thickness hosting Dirac fermions. Furthermore, sweeping the gate voltage amplitude we observed sign-alternating oscillations for gate voltages corresponding to p-type conductivity. The amplitude of the oscillations is more than two orders of magnitude larger than the signal for n-type conducting QWs. The oscillations and the signal enhancement are shown to be caused by the complex valence band structure of HgTe-based QWs. These peculiar features of the ratchet currents make these materials an ideal platform for the development of THz applications., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We report on the observation of the circular transversal terahertz photoconductivity in monolayer graphene supplied by a back gate. The photoconductivity response is caused by the free carrier absorption and reverses its sign upon switching the radiation helicity. The observed dc Hall effect manifests the time inversion symmetry breaking induced by circularly polarized terahertz radiation in the absence of a magnetic field. For low gate voltages, the photosignal is found to be proportional to the radiation intensity and can be ascribed to the alignment of electron momenta by the combined action of THz and static electric fields as well as by the dynamic heating and cooling of the electron gas. Strikingly, at high gate voltages, we observe that the linear-in-intensity Hall photoconductivity vanishes; the photoresponse at low intensities becomes superlinear and varies with the square of the radiation intensity. We attribute this behavior to the interplay of the second- and fourth-order effects in the radiation electric field which has not been addressed theoretically so far and requires additional studies., Comment: 8 figures

We report on the observation of terahertz radiation induced edge photogalvanic currents in graphene, which are nonlinear in intensity. The increase of the radiation intensities up to MW/cm$^2$ results in a complex nonlinear intensity dependence of the photocurrent. The nonlinearity is controlled by the back gate voltage, temperature and radiation frequency. A microscopic theory of the nonlinear edge photocurrent is developed. Comparison of the experimental data and theory demonstrates that the nonlinearity of the photocurrent is caused by the interplay of two mechanisms, i.e. by direct inter-band optical transitions and Drude-like absorption. Both photocurrents saturate at high intensities, but have different intensity dependencies and saturation intensities. The total photocurrent shows a complex sign-alternating intensity dependence. The functional behaviour of the saturation intensities and amplitudes of both kinds of photogalvanic currents depending on gate voltages, temperature, radiation frequency and polarization is in a good agreement with the developed theory., Comment: 10 Figures

We generalize solid-state tight-binding techniques for the spectral analysis of large superconducting circuits. We find that tight-binding states can be better suited for approximating the low-energy excitations than charge-basis states, as illustrated for the interesting example of the current-mirror circuit. The use of tight binding can dramatically lower the Hilbert space dimension required for convergence to the true spectrum, and allows for the accurate simulation of larger circuits that are out of reach of charge basis diagonalization., Comment: 10 + 1 pages, 6 figures, 1 table

Current induced spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in ferromagnet/non-magnetic metal heterostructures open vast possibilities to design spintronic devices to store, process and transmit information in a simple architecture. It is a central task to search for efficient SOT-devices, and to quantify the magnitude as well as the symmetry of current-induced spin-orbit magnetic fields (SOFs). Here, we report a novel approach to determine the SOFs based on magnetization dynamics by means of time-resolved magneto-optic Kerr microscopy. A microwave current in a narrow Fe/GaAs (001) stripe generates an Oersted field as well as SOFs due to the reduced symmetry at the Fe/GaAs interface, and excites standing spin wave (SSW) modes because of the lateral confinement. Due to their different symmetries, the SOFs and the Oersted field generate distinctly different mode patterns. Thus it is possible to determine the magnitude of the SOFs from an analysis of the shape of the SSW patterns. Specifically, this method, which is conceptually different from previous approaches based on lineshape analysis, is phase independent and self-calibrated. It can be used to measure the current induced SOFs in other material systems, e.g., ferromagnetic metal/non-magnetic metal heterostructures.

We present the results of a four-month, spectroscopic campaign of the Wolf-Rayet dust-making binary, WR137. We detect only small-amplitude, random variability in the CIII5696 emission line and its integrated quantities (radial velocity, equivalent width, skewness, kurtosis) that can be explained by stochastic clumps in the wind of the WC star. We find no evidence of large-scale, periodic variations often associated with Corotating Interaction Regions that could have explained the observed intrinsic continuum polarization of this star. Our moderately high-resolution and high signal-to-noise average Keck spectrum shows narrow double-peak emission profiles in the Halpha, Hbeta, Hgamma, HeII6678 and HeII5876 lines. These peaks have a stable blue-to-red intensity ratio with a mean of 0.997 and a root-mean-square of 0.004, commensurate with the noise level; no variability is found during the entire observing period. We suggest that these profiles arise in a decretion disk around the O9 companion, which is thus an O9e star. The characteristics of the profiles are compatible with those of other Be/Oe stars. The presence of this disk can explain the constant component of the continuum polarization of this system, for which the angle is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit, implying that the rotation axis of the O9e star is aligned with that of the orbit. It remains to be explained why the disk is so stable within the strong ultraviolet radiation field of the O star. We present a binary evolutionary scenario that is compatible with the current stellar and system parameters., Comment: 12 pages, 5 Figures

We report on the observation of the magnetic quantum ratchet effect in graphene with a lateral dual-grating top gate (DGG) superlattice. We show that the THz ratchet current exhibits sign-alternating magneto-oscillations due to the Shubnikov-de Haas effect. The amplitude of these oscillations is greatly enhanced as compared to the ratchet effect at zero magnetic field. The direction of the current is determined by the lateral asymmetry which can be controlled by variation of gate potentials in DGG. We also study the dependence of the ratchet current on the orientation of the terahertz electric field (for linear polarization) and on the radiation helicity (for circular polarization). Notably, in the latter case, switching from right- to left-circularly polarized radiation results in an inversion of the photocurrent direction. We demonstrate that most of our observations can be well fitted by the drift-diffusion approximation based on the Boltzmann kinetic equation with the Landau quantization fully encoded in the oscillations of the density of states.

We report on the observation of terahertz (THz) radiation induced band-to-band impact ionization in \HgTe quantum well (QW) structures of critical thickness, which are characterized by a nearly linear energy dispersion. The THz electric field drives the carriers initializing electron-hole pair generation. The carrier multiplication is observed for photon energies less than the energy gap under the condition that the product of the radiation angular frequency $\omega$ and momentum relaxation time $\tau_{\text l}$ larger than unity. In this case, the charge carriers acquire high energies solely because of collisions in the presence of a high-frequency electric field. The developed microscopic theory shows that the probability of the light impact ionization is proportional to $\exp(-E_0^2/E^2)$, with the radiation electric field amplitude $E$ and the characteristic field parameter $E_0$. As observed in experiment, it exhibits a strong frequency dependence for $\omega \tau \gg 1$ characterized by the characteristic field $E_0$ linearly increasing with the radiation frequency $\omega$.

The current-mirror circuit [A. Kitaev, arXiv:cond-mat/0609441 (2006)] exhibits a robust ground-state degeneracy and wave functions with disjoint support for appropriate circuit parameters. In this protected regime, Cooper-pair excitons form the relevant low-energy excitations. Based on a full circuit analysis of the current-mirror device, we introduce an effective model that systematically captures the relevant low-energy degrees of freedom, and is amenable to diagonalization using Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) methods. We find excellent agreement between DMRG and exact diagonalization, and can push DMRG simulations to much larger circuit sizes than feasible for exact diagonalization. We discuss the spectral properties of the current-mirror circuit, and predict coherence times exceeding 1 ms in parameter regimes believed to be within reach of experiments., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

We observe that the illumination of unbiased graphene in the quantum Hall regime with polarized terahertz laser radiation results in a direct edge current. This photocurrent is caused by an imbalance of persistent edge currents, which are driven out of thermal equilibrium by indirect transitions within the chiral edge channel. The direction of the edge photocurrent is determined by the polarity of the external magnetic field, while its magnitude depends on the radiation polarization. The microscopic theory developed in this paper describes well the experimental data.

We report on a comprehensive study of the magnetic coupling between soft magnetic Fe layers and hard magnetic Dysprosium (Dy) layers at low temperatures (4.2 - 120K). For our experiments we prepared thin films of Fe and Dy and multilayers of Fe/Dy by ultra-high vacuum sputtering. The magnetic properties of each material were determined with a superconducting quantum interference device. Furthermore, we performed magnetoresistance measurements with similarly grown, microstructured devices, where the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect was used to identify the magnetization state of the samples. By analyzing and comparing the corresponding data of Fe and Dy, we show that the presence of a Dy layer on top of the Fe layer significantly influences its magnetic properties and makes it magnetically harder. We perform a systematic evaluation of this effect and its dependence on temperature and on the thickness of the soft magnetic layer. All experimental results can consistently be explained with exchange coupling at the interface between the Fe and the Dy layer. Our experiments also yield a negative sign of the AMR effect of thin Dy films, and an increase of the Dy films' Curie temperature, which is due to growth conditions.

Current induced spin-orbit magnetic fields (iSOFs), arising either in single-crystalline ferromagnets with broken inversion symmetry1,2 or in non-magnetic metal/ferromagnetic metal bilayers3,4, can produce spin-orbit torques which act on a ferromagnet's magnetization,thus offering an efficient way for its manipulation.To further reduce power consumption in spin-orbit torque devices, it is highly desirable to control iSOFs by the field-effect, where power consumption is determined by charging/discharging a capacitor5,6. In particular, efficient electric-field control of iSOFs acting on ferromagnetic metals is of vital importance for practical applications. It is known that in single crystalline Fe/GaAs (001) heterostructures with C2v symmetry, interfacial SOFs emerge at the Fe/GaAs (001) interface due to the lack of inversion symmetry7,8. Here, we show that by applying a gate-voltage across the Fe/GaAs interface, interfacial SOFs acting on Fe can be robustly modulated via the change of the magnitude of the interfacial spin-orbit interaction. Our results show that, for the first time, the electric-field in a Schottky barrier is capable of modifying SOFs, which can be exploited for the development of low-power-consumption spin-orbit torque devices., Comment: 5 figures

We report on the observation and systematic study of polarization sensitive magnetic quantum ratchet effects induced by alternating electric fields in the terahertz frequency range. The effects are detected in (Cd,Mn)Te-based quantum well (QW) structures with inter-digitated dual-grating-gate (DGG) lateral superlattices. A dc electric current excited by cw terahertz laser radiation shows 1/B-periodic oscillations with an amplitude much larger than the photocurrent at zero magnetic field. Variation of gate voltages applied to individual grating gates of the DGG enables us to change the degree and the sign of the lateral asymmetry in a controllable way. The data reveal that the photocurrent reflects the degree of lateral asymmetry induced by different gate potentials. We show that the magnetic ratchet photocurrent includes the Seebeck thermoratchet effect as well as the effects of "linear" and "circular" ratchets, which are sensitive to the corresponding polarization of the driving electromagnetic force. Theoretical analysis performed in the framework of semiclassical approach and taking into account Landau quantization describes the experimental results well.

We present explicit, analytical heating formulas that predict the heating rates of spherical, nonneutral plasmas stored in a Paul trap as a function of cloud size $S$, particle number $N$, and Paul-trap control parameter $q$ in the low-temperature regime close to the cloud $\rightarrow$ crystal phase transition. We find excellent agreement between our analytical heating formulas and detailed, time-dependent molecular-dynamics simulations of the trapped plasmas. We also present the results of our numerical solutions of a temperature-dependent mean-field equation, which are consistent with our numerical simulations and our analytical results. This is the first time that analytical heating formulas are presented that predict heating rates with reasonable accuracy, uniformly for all $S$, $N$, and $q$., Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure

We report on observation of pronounced terahertz radiation-induced magneto-resistivity oscillations in AlGaAs/GaAs two-dimensional electron systems, the THz analog of the microwave induced resistivity oscillations (MIRO). Applying high power radiation of a pulsed molecular laser we demonstrate that MIRO, so far observed at low power only, are not destroyed even at very high intensities. Experiments with radiation intensity ranging over five orders of magnitude from $0.1$ W/cm$^2$ to $10^4$ W/cm$^2$ reveal high-power saturation of the MIRO amplitude, which is well described by an empirical fit function $I/(1 + I/I_s)^\beta$ with $\beta \sim 1$. The saturation intensity Is is of the order of tens of W/cm$^2$ and increases by six times by increasing the radiation frequency from $0.6$ to $1.1$ THz. The results are discussed in terms of microscopic mechanisms of MIRO and compared to nonlinear effects observed earlier at significantly lower excitation frequencies., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures

We report on the observation of magnetic quantum ratchet effect in (Cd,Mn)Te- and CdTe-based quantum well structures with an asymmetric lateral dual grating gate superlattice subjected to an external magnetic field applied normal to the quantum well plane. A dc electric current excited by cw terahertz laser radiation shows 1/B-oscillations with an amplitude much larger as compared to the photocurrent at zero magnetic field. We show that the photocurrent is caused by the combined action of a spatially periodic in-plane potential and the spatially modulated radiation due to the near field effects of light diffraction. Magnitude and direction of the photocurrent are determined by the degree of the lateral asymmetry controlled by the variation of voltages applied to the individual gates. The observed magneto-oscillations with enhanced photocurrent amplitude result from Landau quantization and, for (Cd,Mn)Te at low temperatures, from the exchange enhanced Zeeman splitting in diluted magnetic heterostructures. Theoretical analysis, considering the magnetic quantum ratchet effect in the framework of semiclassical approach, describes quite well the experimental results.

We report on the observation of a circular photogalvanic current excited by terahertz (THz) laser radiation in helical edge channels of HgTe-based 2D topological insulators (TIs). The direction of the photocurrent reverses by switching the radiation polarization from right-handed to left-handed one and, for fixed photon helicity, is opposite for the opposite edges. The photocurrent is detected in a wide range of gate voltages. With decreasing the Fermi level below the conduction band bottom, the current emerges, reaches a maximum, decreases, changes its sign close to the charge neutrality point (CNP), and again rises. Conductance measured over a 7 $\mu$m distance at CNP approaches 2e2/h, the value characteristic for ballistic transport in 2D TIs. The data reveal that the photocurrent is caused by photoionization of helical edge electrons to the conduction band. We discuss the microscopic model of this phenomenon and compare calculations with the experimental data.

We study dissipation in Pd nano-mechanical resonators at low temperatures in the linear response regime. Metallic resonators have shown characteristic features of dissipation due to tunneling two level systems (TLS). This system offers a unique tunability of the dissipation scenario by adsorbing hydrogen ($H_2$) which induces a compressive stress. The intrinsic stress is expected to alter TLS behaviour. We find a sub-linear power law $\sim T^{0.4}$ in dissipation. As seen in TLS dissipation scenarios we find a logarithmic increase of frequency characteristic from the lowest temperatures till a characteristic temperature $T_{co}$ is reached. In samples without $H_2$ the $T_{co} \sim 1K$ whereas with $H_2$ it is clearly reduced to $\sim 700 mK$. Based on standard TLS phenomena we attribute this to enhanced phonon-TLS coupling in samples with compressive strain. We also find with $H_2$ there is a saturation in low temperature dissipation which may possibly be due to super-radiant interaction between TLS and phonons. We discuss the data in the scope of TLS phenomena and similar data for other systems.

During the summer of 2013, a 4-month spectroscopic campaign took place to observe the variabilities in three Wolf-Rayet stars. The spectroscopic data have been analyzed for WR 134 (WN6b), to better understand its behaviour and long-term periodicity, which we interpret as arising from corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in the wind. By analyzing the variability of the He II $\lambda$5411 emission line, the previously identified period was refined to P = 2.255 $\pm$ 0.008 (s.d.) days. The coherency time of the variability, which we associate with the lifetime of the CIRs in the wind, was deduced to be 40 $\pm$ 6 days, or $\sim$ 18 cycles, by cross-correlating the variability patterns as a function of time. When comparing the phased observational grayscale difference images with theoretical grayscales previously calculated from models including CIRs in an optically thin stellar wind, we find that two CIRs were likely present. A separation in longitude of $\Delta \phi \simeq$ 90$^{\circ}$ was determined between the two CIRs and we suggest that the different maximum velocities that they reach indicate that they emerge from different latitudes. We have also been able to detect observational signatures of the CIRs in other spectral lines (C IV $\lambda\lambda$5802,5812 and He I $\lambda$5876). Furthermore, a DAC was found to be present simultaneously with the CIR signatures detected in the He I $\lambda$5876 emission line which is consistent with the proposed geometry of the large-scale structures in the wind. Small-scale structures also show a presence in the wind, simultaneously with the larger scale structures, showing that they do in fact co-exist., Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables, will appear in the Monthly Notices for the Royal Astronomical Society, http://www.astro.umontreal.ca/~emily/CIR_Lifetime_WR134_full.pdf