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At least 1,387 records · Page 77

Suppressed Fluctuations as the Origin of the Static Magnetic Order in Strained Sr 2 RuO 4

Combining first-principles density-functional calculations and Moriya's self-consistent renormalization theory, we explain the recently reported counterintuitive appearance of an ordered magnetic state in uniaxially strained Sr 2 RuO 4 beyond the Lifshitz transition. We show that strain weakens the quantum spin fluctuations, which destroy the static order, more strongly than the tendency to magnetism. Furthermore, a different rate of decrease of the spin fluctuations vs magnetic stabilization energy promotes the onset of a static magnetic order beyond a critical strain.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice

Exchange interactions are mediated via orbital overlaps across chemical bonds. Thus, modifying the bond angles by physical pressure or strain can tune the relative strength of competing interactions. Here we present a remarkable case of such tuning between the Heisenberg (J) and Kitaev (K) exchange, which respectively establish magnetically ordered and spin liquid phases on a honeycomb lattice. We observe a rapid suppression of the Néel temperature (T N ) with pressure in Ag 3 LiRh 2 O 6 , a spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice with both J and K couplings. Using a combined analysis of x-ray data and first-principles calculations, we find that pressure modifies the bond angles in a way that increases the ∣K/J∣ ratio and thereby suppresses T N . Consistent with this picture, we observe a spontaneous onset of muon spin relaxation (μSR) oscillations below T N at low pressure, whereas in the high pressure phase, oscillations appear only when T < T N /2. Unlike other candidate Kitaev materials, Ag 3 LiRh 2 O 6 is tuned toward a quantum critical point by pressure while avoiding a structural dimerization in the relevant pressure range.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Possible role of grain-boundary and dislocation structure for the magnetic-flux trapping behavior of niobium: A first-principles study

In this work, first-principles methods were used to understand magnetic flux trapping at vacancies, dislocations, and grain boundaries in high-purity superconducting niobium. Full-potential linear augmented plane-wave methods were applied in progressively greater complexity, starting at simple vacancies and extending to screw dislocations and tilt grain boundaries to analyze the effects of magnetic field on the superconducting state surrounding these defects. Density-functional theory calculations identified changes in electronic structure at the dislocation core and different types of symmetric tilt grain boundaries relative to bulk niobium. Electron redistribution enhanced nonparamagnetic effects and thus perturb superconductivity, resulting in local conditions suitable for premature flux penetration and subsequently flux pinning. Since the coherence length of superconducting niobium at 0 K is significantly larger than the lattice parameter, the effects of line and planar defects in niobium are predicted to be stronger for defect clusters than single defects in isolation, which is consistent with recent experimental observations. Controlling accumulation or depletion of charge at the defects, e.g., by segregation of an impurity atom, can mitigate these tendencies thus increasing the quality of superconducting niobium.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Ultra-low magnetic field apparatus for a cryogenic gyroscope

An ultralow magnetic field apparatus for earth-based testing of a cryogenic gyroscope system designed for a satellite test of general relativity is described. The magnetic field apparatus makes use of a superconducting lead shield while also maintaining sufficient mechanical stability to obtain a gyroscope readout sensitivity of one arcsec over a limited range. A gyroscope environment of 2.3 times 10 to the minus seventh power gauss has been attained with the magnetic field shielding technique. The magnetic field apparatus is to be used with a three-axis London moment readout system.

Cabrera, B.↗

Quench detection using Hall sensors in high-temperature superconducting CORC ® -based cable-in-conduit-conductors for fusion applications

Advanced magnet systems for fusion applications would greatly benefit from the use of high-temperature superconductors (HTS). These materials allow fusion magnets to operate at higher magnetic fields, allowing for more compact fusion machines, and allow for operation at elevated temperatures, enabling demountable coils that provide access for maintenance of the fusion reactor. Quench detection remains a major challenge in the protection of HTS magnets that are vulnerable to localized conductor burnout due to their low quench propagation velocities. One of the methods explored is the use of Hall sensors that are incorporated in or near the magnet terminations that can detect local field variations that occur as a result of current redistribution within the conductor to bypass a hotspot within the magnet winding. This method is potentially well suited for Cable in Conduit Conductors, such as those made from Conductor on Round Core (CORC) cables, in which sub-cables containing HTS tapes are connected to the terminations at a low resistance. Here, to demonstrate the technique, a CORC ® triplet consisting of three sub-cables, rated for 4 kA operation at 77 K, was manufactured and Hall sensors were used to measure local field variations next to the terminations due to current redistribution between the cables. The Hall response was compared to voltages that developed over the cables and terminations as a local hotspot was applied to different cables in the triplet. It was found that the Hall sensors were faster and more sensitive than voltage contact measurements and were able to reliably detect current redistribution of only a few amperes caused by a hotspot, well before the triplet exceeded its critical current. The method also allowed the detection of heater-induced hotspots during high ramp rates of 2 kA s<:sup>–1 relevant for fusion applications. Hall sensors have a distinct benefit of being less sensitive to inductive pickup of AC interference compared to voltage contact measurements that make quench detection through voltage measurements in magnets especially challenging. The method can also be used for diagnostic measurements of current redistribution caused by other sources such as inhomogeneous current injection from faulty joints, or localized conductor damage. The Hall sensors are likely capable of detecting the onset of a quench that may occur a far distance away from the sensor location, presenting a breakthrough in HTS quench detection that potentially removes one of the remaining barriers to reliable operation of large HTS magnet systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Ac losses in field-cooled type I superconducting cavities

As superconductors are cooled below their critical temperature, stray magnetic flux can become trapped in regions that remain normal. The presence of trapped flux facilitates dissipation of ac current in a superconductor, leading to losses in superconducting elements of microwave devices. In type II superconductors, dissipation is well-understood in terms of the dynamics of vortices hosting a single flux quantum. In contrast, the ac response of type I superconductors with trapped flux has not received much attention. Building on Andreev's early work (Andreev 1967 Sov. Phys. JETP 24 1019), here we show theoretically that the dominant dissipation mechanism is the absorption of the ac field at the exposed surfaces of the normal regions, while the deformation of the superconducting/normal interfaces is unimportant. We use the developed theory to estimate the degradation of the quality factors in field-cooled cavities, and we satisfactorily compare these theoretical estimates to the measured field dependence of the quality factors of two aluminum cavities. We also identify a regime in which the dissipated power depends weakly on the Ginzburg-Landau parameter; this makes it possible to apply our findings to cavities made of other materials, such as niobium.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Superconducting disordered neural networks for neuromorphic processing with fluxons

In superconductors, magnetic fields are quantized into discrete fluxons (flux quanta Φ 0 ), made of microscopic circulating supercurrents. We introduce a multiterminal synapse network comprising a disordered array of superconducting loops with Josephson junctions. The loops can trap fluxons defining memory, while the junctions allow their movement between loops. Dynamics of fluxons through such a disordered system through a complex reconfigurable energy landscape represents brain-like spiking information flow. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a three-loop network using YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 –δ -based superconducting loops and Josephson junctions, which exhibit stable memory configurations of trapped flux in loops that determine the rate of flow of fluxons through synaptic connections. The memory states are, in turn, affected by the applied input signals but can also be externally configured electrically through control current/feedback terminals. These results establish a previously unexplored, biologically similar architectural approach to neuromorphic computing that is scalable while dissipating energy of atto Joules/spike.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Experiments at Jefferson Lab

This chapter presents experiments conducted at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory in Newport News, Virginia. There, physicists exploring the nature of matter make use of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), a DOE Office of Science user facility that enables the research of more than 1,650 scientists worldwide. CEBAF’s precise electron beams can reach energies up to 12 billion electron-volts and exhibit high degrees of polarization. Jefferson Lab’s first experiment began taking data in 1995. Since then, the facility has become a world leader in the study of quantum chromodynamics. Today, experiments are carried out simultaneously in four experimental halls, each with specialized capabilities. The primary instruments in use are focusing or large-acceptance magnetic spectrometers, many of which feature superconducting elements. Jefferson Lab’s physics program provides unprecedented insight into the particles and forces that shape the visible universe.

Achenbach, Patrick [Thomas Jefferson National Acce↗

Single-shot magnon interference in a magnon-superconducting-resonator hybrid circuit

Magnon interference is a hallmark of coherent magnon interactions. In this work, we demonstrate single-shot magnon interference using up to four magnon pulses in two remotely coupled yttrium iron garnet spheres mediated by a coplanar superconducting resonator. By exciting one YIG sphere with injected microwave pulses, we achieve coherent energy exchange between the two spheres, facilitating their interference processes, including Rabi-like oscillation with a single pulse, constructive and destructive interference with two pulses, and interference peak sharpening with up to four pulses—analogous to diffraction grating in optical interference. The resulting interference patterns can be precisely controlled by changing the frequency detuning and time delay of the magnon pulses. The demonstration of time-domain coherent control of remote magnon interference opens new pathways for advancing coherent information processing through multi-operation, circuit-integrated hybrid magnonic networks.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Emergence of antiferromagnetic correlations and Kondolike features in a model for infinite layer nickelates

We report a determinant quantum Monte Carlo study of a two-band model, inspired by infinite-layer nickelates, focusing on the influence of interlayer hybridization between $3d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$ orbitals derived from Ni (or Ni and O) in one layer and rare-earth (R) 5d orbitals in the other layer, hereafter the Ni and R layers, respectively. For a filling with one electron shared between the two layers on average, interlayer hybridization leads to “self-doped" holes in the Ni layer and the absence of antiferromagnetic ordering, but rather the appearance of spin-density and charge-density stripe-like states. As the interlayer hybridization increases, both the Ni and R layers develop antiferromagnetic correlations, even though either layer individually remains away from half-filling. For hybridization within an intermediate range, roughly comparable to the intralayer nearest-neighbor hopping t Ni , the model develops signatures of Kondo-like physics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Graphene bilayers with a twist

Near a magic twist angle, bilayer graphene transforms from a weakly correlated Fermi liquid to a strongly correlated two-dimensional electron system with properties that are extraordinarily sensitive to carrier density and to controllable environmental factors such as the proximity of nearby gates and twist-angle variation. Among other phenomena, magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene hosts superconductivity, interaction-induced insulating states, magnetism, electronic nematicity, linear-in-temperature low-temperature resistivity and quantized anomalous Hall states. Here, we highlight some key research results in this field, point to important questions that remain open and comment on the place of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene in the strongly correlated quantum matter world.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Design and performance of a superconducting neutron resonance spin flipper

Despite the challenges, neutron resonance spin echo still holds the promise to improve upon neutron spin echo for the measurement of slow dynamics in materials. We present a bootstrap, radio frequency neutron spin flipper using high temperature superconducting technology capable of flipping neutron spin with either nonadiabatic or adiabatic modes. A frequency of 2 MHz has been achieved, which would achieve an effective field integral of 0.35 T m for a meter of separation in a neutron resonance spin echo spectrometer at the current device specifications. In bootstrap mode, the self-cancellation of Larmor phase aberrations can be achieved with the appropriate selection of the polarity of the gradient coils.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Phase-resolved electrical detection of coherently coupled magnonic devices

We demonstrate the electrical detection of magnon-magnon hybrid dynamics in yttrium iron garnet/Permalloy (YIG/Py) thin film bilayer devices. Direct microwave current injection through the conductive Py layer excites the hybrid dynamics consisting of the uniform mode of Py and the first standing spin wave (n=1) mode of YIG, which are coupled via interfacial exchange. Both the two hybrid modes, with Py- or YIG-dominated excitations, can be detected via the spin rectification signals from the conductive Py layer, providing phase resolution of the coupled dynamics. The phase characterization is also applied to a nonlocally excited Py device, revealing the additional phase shift due to the perpendicular Oersted field. Our results provide a device platform for exploring hybrid magnonic dynamics and probing their phases, which are crucial for implementing coherent information processing with magnon excitations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Bulk dissipation in the quantum anomalous Hall effect

Even at the lowest accessible temperatures, measurements of the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect have indicated the presence of parasitic dissipative conduction channels. There is no consensus whether parasitic conduction is related to processes in the bulk or along the edges. Here, we approach this problem by comparing transport measurements of Hall bar and Corbino geometry devices fabricated from Cr-doped (BiSb) 2 Te 3 . We identify bulk conduction as the dominant source of dissipation at all values of temperature and in-plane electric field. Furthermore, we observe identical breakdown phenomenology in both geometries, indicating that breakdown of the QAH phase is a bulk process. The methodology developed in this study could be used to identify dissipative conduction mechanisms in new QAH materials, ultimately guiding material development towards realization of the QAH effect at higher temperatures

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Integrating novel stellarator single-stage optimization algorithms to design the Columbia stellarator experiment

Abstract The Columbia Stellarator eXperiment (CSX), currently being designed at Columbia University, aims to test theoretical predictions related to QA plasma behavior, and to pioneer the construction of an optimized stellarator using three-dimensional, non-insulated high-temperature superconducting (NI-HTS) coils. The magnetic configuration is generated by a combination of two circular planar poloidal field (PF) coils and two 3D-shaped interlinked (IL) coils, with the possibility to add windowpane coils to enhance shaping and experimental flexibility. The PF coils and vacuum vessel are repurposed from the former Columbia Non-Neutral Torus experiment, while the IL coils will be custom-wound in-house using NI-HTS tapes. To obtain a plasma shape that meets the physics objectives with a limited number of coils, novel single-stage optimization techniques are employed, optimizing both the plasma and coils concurrently, in particular targeting a tight aspect ratio QA plasma and minimized strain on the HTS tape. Despite the increased complexity due to the expanded degrees of freedom, these methods successfully identify optimized plasma geometries that can be realized by coils meeting engineering specifications. This paper discusses the derivation of the constraints and objectives specific to CSX, and describe how two recently developed single-stage optimization methodologies are applied to the design of CSX. A set of selected configurations for CSX is then described in detail.

Baillod, A. (ORCID:0000000303529180)↗

Spin superfluidity in noncollinear antiferromagnets

We explore the spin superfluid transport in exchange interaction dominated three-sublattice antiferromagnets. The system in the long-wavelength regime is described by an $SO(3)$ invariant field theory. Additional corrections from Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions or anisotropies can break the symmetry; however, the system still approximately holds a $U(1)$-rotation symmetry. Thus, the power-law spatial decay signature of spin superfluidity is identified in a nonlocal-measurement setup where the spin injection is described by the generalized spin-mixing conductance. Finally, we suggest iron jarosites as promising material candidates for realizing our proposal.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗