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Romijn J, Klapwijk TM, Renne MJ, Mooij JE. Critical pair-breaking current in superconducting aluminum strips far below Tc. Phys Rev B. 1982;26(7):3648–55.
Abstract: Critical currents of narrow, thin aluminum strips have been measured as a function of temperature. For the smallest samples uniformity of the current density is obtained over a large temperature range. Hence the intrinsic limit on the currentcarrying capacity of the superconductor was measured outside the Ginzburg-Landau -regime. The experimental values are compared with recent theoretical predictions by Kupriyanov and Lukichev. An approximate method of solving their equations is given, the results of which agree with the exact solution to within 1%. Experimental data are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. The absolute values agree if one assumes a Ïl value of 4×10–16 Ωm2 with vF=1.3×106 m/s. This value for Ïl is the same as that found from measurements of the anomalous skin effect but differs from values extracted from size-effect-limited resistivity.
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Shah J, Pinczuk A, Gossard AC, Wiegmann W. Energy-loss rates for hot electrons and holes in GaAs quantum wells. Phys Rev Lett. 1985;54:2045–8.
Abstract: We report the first direct determination of carrier-energy-loss rates in a semiconductor. These measurements provide fundamental insight into carrier-phonon interactions in semiconductors. Unexpectedly large differences are found in the energy-loss rates for electrons and holes in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. This large difference results from an anomalously low electron-energy-loss rate, which we attribute to the presence of nonequilibrium optical phonons rather than the effects of reduced dimensionality or dynamic screening.
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Kerman AJ, Yang JKW, Molnar RJ, Dauler EA, Berggren KK. Electrothermal feedback in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. Phys Rev B. 2009;79(10):4.
Abstract: We investigate the role of electrothermal feedback in the operation of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). It is found that the desired mode of operation for SNSPDs is only achieved if this feedback is unstable, which happens naturally through the slow electrical response associated with their relatively large kinetic inductance. If this response is sped up in an effort to increase the device count rate, the electrothermal feedback becomes stable and results in an effect known as latching, where the device is locked in a resistive state and can no longer detect photons. We present a set of experiments which elucidate this effect and a simple model which quantitatively explains the results.
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Bulaevskii LN, Graf MJ, Batista CD, Kogan VG. Vortex-induced dissipation in narrow current-biased thin-film superconducting strips. Phys Rev B. 2011;83(14):9.
Abstract: A vortex crossing a thin-film superconducting strip from one edge to the other, perpendicular to the bias current, is the dominant mechanism of dissipation for films of thickness d on the order of the coherence length ξ and of width w much narrower than the Pearl length Λâ‰<ab>wâ‰<ab>ξ. At high bias currents I*<I<Ic the heat released by the crossing of a single vortex suffices to create a belt-like normal-state region across the strip, resulting in a detectable voltage pulse. Here Ic is the critical current at which the energy barrier vanishes for a single vortex crossing. The belt forms along the vortex path and causes a transition of the entire strip into the normal state. We estimate I* to be roughly Ic/3. Furthermore, we argue that such “hot†vortex crossings are the origin of dark counts in photon detectors, which operate in the regime of metastable superconductivity at currents between I* and Ic. We estimate the rate of vortex crossings and compare it with recent experimental data for dark counts. For currents below I*, that is, in the stable superconducting but resistive regime, we estimate the amplitude and duration of voltage pulses induced by a single vortex crossing.
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Minaeva O, Bonato C, Saleh BEA, Simon DS, Sergienko AV. Odd- and even-order dispersion cancellation in quantum interferometry. Phys Rev Lett. 2009;102(10):4.
Abstract: We describe a novel effect involving odd-order dispersion cancellation. We demonstrate that odd- and even-order dispersion cancellation may be obtained in different regions of a single quantum interferogram using frequency-anticorrelated entangled photons and a new type of quantum interferometer. This offers new opportunities for quantum communication and metrology in dispersive media.
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