Properties of an electromagnetically coupled small antenna with asuperconducting thin-film radiator

This paper describes the structure and properties of a 900-MHz-band small antenna with a superconducting thin-film radiator operated by electromagnetic coupling. The radiation efficiency of the antenna with a λ/38 radiator reached 74% at 79 K. The loss in this antenna comprised mismatching loss and radiator loss caused by the surface resistance of the superconducting thin film. A simulation model with a meander-line radiator and a parallel line is also proposed. This model makes it possible to design a superconducting thin-film radiator which can be fabricated on a dielectric substrate by using the moment method without taking account of the dielectric substrate     

Propagation characteristics of high-Tc superconductinginterconnect for VLSI packaging predicted by a generalized two-fluidmodel

A generalized two-fluid model is used to analyze the propagation characteristics of high-Tc superconducting interconnects for very large scale integration (VLSI) packaging. The comparisons for surface impedance of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x (YBCO) single crystals and thin films show data are in good agreement with the generalized two-fluid model. Based on the generalized two-fluid model, the temperature- and frequency-dependences of the attenuation constant are calculated, the transient responses of a pulse transmitted on a high-Tc superconducting interconnect are simulated, and a simple semi-empirical expression for rise time is given. The results based on the generalized two-fluid model predict an optimum operation temperature range for YBCO interconnect near at liquid nitrogen temperature     

Materials Origins of Decoherence in Superconducting Qubits

Superconducting integrated circuits incorporating Josephson junctions are an attractive candidate for scalable quantum information processing in the solid state. The strong nonlinearity of the Josephson effect enables one to tailor an anharmonic potential and thus to realize an artificial quantum two-level system (“qubit”) from a macroscopic superconducting circuit. Josephson qubits can be made to interact strongly and controllably, and it should be straightforward to fabricate circuits incorporating hundreds or even thousands of Josephson qubits using standard thin-film processing techniques. Work over the last several years has shown that qubit performance is limited by spurious coupling of the qubit to microscopic defect states in the materials that are used to implement the circuit. Here we discuss the materials origins of dissipation and dephasing in superconducting qubits. A deeper understanding of the underlying materials physics that governs decoherence in superconducting quantum circuits will guide the search for improved, low-noise materials and fuel continued progress in the field of superconducting quantum computing.      

Picosecond ultrasonics

The generation and detection of ultrasonic waves with picosecond time resolution are described. With picosecond ultrasonics, the frequency range of acoustic waves is extended into the 100-GHz range. It allows the investigation of thin-film materials, microstructures, and materials with large acoustic attenuation. Velocity and attenuation measurements on a variety of thin films are reviewed. The results on complex microstructures, including multilayers, are presented     

Attenuation and dispersion for high-Tc superconductingmicrostrip lines

The attenuation and dispersion of microstrip lines of the high-T_c superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO) on yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates as a function of frequency and temperature are calculated. The effect on pulse propagation of superconducting and model dispersion in addition to the attenuation is demonstrated. At 60 K, microstrip lines of YBCO are significantly less attenuating at frequencies below 500 GHz than microstrip lines of copper at the same temperature. This advantage is particularly significant at the higher attenuations that result as the substrate thickness is made smaller for miniaturization or to improve the microstrip line bandwidth. The application of YBCO for microstrip lines appears to be most useful at frequencies above 100 GHz and dielectric thicknesses less than 100 μm, where the attenuation of cooled copper is prohibitively large. Cooled to temperatures below 20 K, YBCO may make possible a new generation of extremely high bandwidth (~5 THz), small-feature-size (~5 μm) circuits and devices     

12dB微波薄膜衰减器的设计与制备

基于T型衰减网络结构设计并仿真了工作频率为DC~3GHz的微波薄膜衰减器,并采用磁控溅射法在BeO基片上制备了TaN微波薄膜衰减器。仿真结果表明,所设计的微波薄膜衰减器在DC~3GHz工作频率内,衰减量为12 dB,输入端口电压驻波比小于1.1。测试结果表明,所制备的微波薄膜衰减器在DC~3GHz工作频率内,衰减量为(12.0±0.5)dB。     

Thin-film HTS planar antennas

The “H” microstrip antenna is suitable for use as an efficient small antenna when it is constructed out of superconducting thin-film materials. An aperture feed and matching network is described which provides a convenient enhancement of the capabilities of the “H” antenna. Methods of prediction of the center frequency are given. In addition, an analytical expression is developed for the far field radiation pattern of the “H” antenna and the efficiency and Q of superconducting and copper antennas are described using this expression. It is likely that superconducting antennas will only have significant application when they are used in arrays. Three arrays are described demonstrating multiband self-diplexing multifrequency-enhanced bandwidth and multifrequency beam forming     

A superconducting vortex-memory system

A nondestructive readout random access memory utilizing a two-dimensional array of single-quantum vortices in a thin-film type-II superconductor represents an interesting new storage medium for future Josephson computers. The operational mode is based on the bistable vortex position achieved by overlay films. The performance limitations of such a superconducting vortex-memory device are obtained by extrapolating theoretical model considerations of a type-I superconducting multiquanta flux-tube system experimentally tested by means of stroboscopic magneto-optical flux detection.     

High-Temperature Superconducting Loss-Free Delay Network for High-Power Pulse

In this paper, a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) loss-free delay network for high-power pulses is performed. Based on the voltage and current pulse experiments carried out at 300 and 77 K, experimental results demonstrate that, under the matched resistive load condition, compared with a normal conducting lossy delay network, the HTS loss-free delay network can effectively reduce the amplitude attenuation of voltage pulses and the front-edge distortion of current pulses.     

Adjustable microstrip transformer for use with Josephson devices in mm-wave ICs

A simple remotely adjustable cryogenic impedance transformer employing superconducting inverted microstrip circuits is described. The scheme is particularly suitable for efficiently coupling low impedance (0.1?5 ?) thin-film devices (e.g. Josephson junctions) in planar microwave integrated circuits to waveguide or other superconducting and semiconducting devices at millimetre wavelengths. Preliminary results obtained at 8 mm are presented.     

薄膜电阻对微带均衡器的影响研究

为了使微带均衡器满足衰减特性与给定的误差曲线逐点拟和的要求,就必须使其频率可调、衰减可调、品质因数可调。因此,本文通过大量仿真和实验,研究了加载了薄膜电阻的微带谐振器及其在微带均衡器中的应用,研究分析了薄膜电阻对微带均衡器传输特性及驻波特性的影响。研究结果表明将薄膜电阻加载到微带谐振器上构造微带均衡器,可以通过改变谐振器的尺寸使其频率可调,通过改变电阻阻值及位置使其衰减可调、品质因数可调。大量HFSS仿真及实验证明这种方式很适合微带均衡器的设计制造。本文利用这种结构设计制作出了一个宽带微带均衡器,得到了很好的实验结果。     

A hybrid SQUID gradiometer with 3-dimensional thin-film pick-upcoils fabricated using an excimer laser

A compact hybrid superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) gradiometer consisting of a coaxial pick-up coil with a superconducting Nb thin-film and a square double-washer dc-SQUID is developed. To make the pick-up coils, a 3-dimensional thin-film patterning technique is developed using an excimer laser. The gradiometer operates with flux locked loop electronics, a low-noise amplifier, and a high-speed (1 MHz) phase-sensitive detector. This gradiometer is sensitive to levels as low as 9 fT/√Hz     

An investigation into density-wave propagation within high-temperature superconducting plasmas for use in creating traveling-wave devices

This paper theoretically investigates a novel application of high-temperature superconductors where the superconductor serves as the active component in a microwave or millimeter traveling-wave amplifier. A guided electromagnetic wave interacts with a dc superconducting electron current to set up charge-density gradients within the superconducting electron "plasma." The electromagnetic wave gradually extracts energy from the superconducting electrons by traveling in phase synchronism with these charge gradients. The interaction mechanism is similar to that of a conventional traveling-wave tube amplifier or oscillator. We have modeled the wave behavior of superconducting electrons using the London equations and a two-fluid approach. Our model includes dissipation within the superconductor, and it shows that traveling-wave devices may be possible using high-quality thin-film superconductors in which dissipation is kept low.     

Physical Modeling of Hot-Electron Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors

In this paper, we treat the incident photons as an electromagnetic plane wave and simulate the wave power coupling to the the hot-electron superconducting single-photon detector to investigate its connection with the experimental system quantum efficiency over different wavelengths. Then we propose a lumped equivalent circuit model based on the kinetic inductance variation induced by the incident photon stream when the serpentine superconducting thin-film nano-wire is dc-biased close to its critical current. The computed output voltage matches experimental results for both amplitude and frequency.     

Characterization of Nb-Based Superconducting Microstrip Lines Around the Gap Frequency

Submillimter-wave SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers usually adopt SIS junctions associated with an integrated tuning circuit, which tunes out the junction's geometric capacitance and is typically an inductive thin-film superconducting microstrip line. This paper mainly investigates the characteristic of Nb-based superconducting microstrip lines around the junction's gap frequency, at which the surface resistance of Nb films becomes considerable, and its effect on the performance of SIS mixers.     

Frequency response of a thin-film transmission line

This letter presents experimental and theoretical results for the attenuation of a terminated thin-film transmission line at frequencies up to 1 MHz.     

激光诱导薄膜损伤的缺陷统计模型与光斑效应

讨论了脉冲激光诱导薄膜损伤的缺陷统计模型，在对该模型加些适当的限制条件后，运用它解释光斑效应，发现该理论模型与实验结果符合得很好。     

Effects of the Thin-Film Metal Ground Embedded in On-Chip Microstrip Lines

This letter studies the influence of embedded thin-film metallization layers, normally designed as ground planes, upon the dispersive characteristics of multilayer microstrip lines. The spectral domain approach is used to analyze the effects of the metallization thickness as a design parameter in two structures: the thin-film microstrip line and metal-insulator-metal-insulator line. Numerical results indicate that the thin metallization layer can excite the slow-wave mode and change significantly the dispersive characteristics. Moreover, at low frequencies a local minimal attenuation can be achieved with certain metallization thickness. Thus, it is necessary to take into account this thin-film metal ground to achieve reliable numerical simulation from dc to millimeter-wave frequencies     

飞秒脉冲激光入射单层光学薄膜的光场特性数值模拟

飞秒脉冲激光入射光学薄膜形成瞬态光场分布是一个非稳态过程,该过程不同于纳秒脉冲或连续波入射的情形,不能直接采用求解薄膜特征矩阵的方法进行处理。采用多光束叠加的方法建立了超短脉冲入射单层膜的反射率和内部光强分布的理论模型,并根据ZnS薄膜材料的参数和单层增反膜的特点进行了数值计算。结果表明,对单层增反膜,薄膜反射率与脉宽成正比,并随脉宽增加逐渐趋近于连续波入射时的情形。在同一脉宽下,膜层厚度增加,反射率下降,且反射脉冲形状也发生改变。膜层中的光强分布计算结果也明显不同于连续波辐照情形,且薄膜厚度越大,差异越显著,表现为连续波入射时,膜层内的光强分布呈等振幅的波动,而超短脉冲入射时,波动的振幅逐渐增大,在膜层和玻璃分界处达到最大值。     

Enabling the Unconstrained Epidermal Pulse Wave Monitoring via Finger-Touching

Unconstrained measurement of physiological signals including electrocardiograph, respiration, and temperature by sensors through incorporation into commonly used objects has sparked a notable revolution in healthcare monitoring. However, unconstrained precision epidermal pulse wave monitoring is rarely reported. Although the current flexible skin-mounted sensors can capture pulse waves, they lack the capability to perceive tiny pulse pressure in an unconstrained manner. Herein, utilizing thin-film materials and multilevel microstructure design, an ultrathin and flexible sensor (UFS) with the features of high flexibility, shape-adaptability, and ultra-broad-range high pressure sensitivity is proposed for unconstrained precision pulse wave sensing. Given these compelling features, the UFS is mounted to the surfaces of commonly used objects and successfully detects the fingertip pulse wave even under an ultra-broad-range finger-touching force. Key cardiovascular parameters are also extracted from the acquired fingertip pulse wave accurately. Furthermore, a proof-of-concept healthcare system, by combining the UFS and flexible devices (for example, flexible phones or E-newspapers) is demonstrated, offering a great advancement in developing an all-in-one system for IoT-based bio-health monitoring at all times and places.