Dissipative and fast-timescale phenomena in superconductors
This project explored new effects and regimes that unfold in superconductors as they are pushed to ex treme and unprecedented conditions of electric field, power densities, vortex velocities, etc. Besides their own novelty, these phenomena yield fundamental in formation about the superconducting state and its parameters, as well as its practical limits for techno logical applications. Furthermore some of these ef fects (such as formation of phase slip processes and the acceleration of superfluid) are time dependent on time scales such as quasiparticle-phonon energy re laxation and gap relaxation. This project used fast low-duty-cycle pulsed signals to first of all access these regimes without excessive heating and secondly to observe directly in the time domain the temporal unfolding of these phenomena on nanosecond time scales. This project led to the discovery of new effects in the transport behavior in superconductors, provided new information on fundamental parameters, and helped establish intrinsic strengths and limitations of different superconducting materials for ap plications. The primary tools developed for extending the range of measurable dissipation densities and observation of short time-scale phenomena were fast pulsed-current and pulsed-voltage sources, and fast high-CM-rejection detection circuitry. This allowed conducting measurements at power densities in the 10 10 W/cm 3 range, and at E ~ 1 kV/cm and v Φ ~10 km/s. Also developed was the ability to simultaneously track current I(t) and voltage V (t) and cross correlate them with sub-nanosecond temporal resolution. A recent angle of this project was the exploration of subtle phenomena at low current densities, especially for the magnetic field orientation parallel to the plane of the films. Through modifications of the pulsed tube closed cycle cryostat, we developed methods for attaining low-noise and high temperature-stability conditions. This led to the observation of novel dimensional effects related to the mixed state and vortex matter, and to a new type of magnetoresistance oscillation.