Conrad Clauss

Reducing vortex losses in superconducting microwave resonators with microsphere patterned antidot arrays

We experimentally investigate the vortex induced energy losses in niobium coplanar waveguide resonators with and without quasihexagonal arrays of nanoholes (antidots), where large-area antidot patterns have been fabricated using self-assembling microsphere lithography. We perform transmission spectroscopy experiments around 6.25 GHz in magnetic field cooling and zero field cooling procedures with perpendicular magnetic fields up to B = 27 mT at a temperature T = 4.2 K. We find that the introduction of antidot arrays into resonators reduces vortex induced losses by more than one order of magnitude.

Microwave spectroscopy on heavy-fermion systems: Probing the dynamics of charges and magnetic moments

Investigating solids with light gives direct access to charge dynamics, electronic and magnetic excitations. For heavy fermions, one has to adjust the frequency of the probing light to the small characteristic energy scales, leading to spectroscopy with microwaves. We review general concepts of the frequency-dependent conductivity of heavy fermions, including the slow Drude relaxation and the transition to a superconducting state, which we also demonstrate with experimental data taken on UPd2Al3. We discuss the optical response of a Fermi liquid and how it might be observed in heavy fermions. Microwave studies with focus on quantum criticality in heavy fermions concern the charge response, but also the magnetic moments can be addressed via electron spin resonance (ESR). We discuss the case of YbRh2Si2, the open questions concerning ESR of heavy fermions, and how these might be addressed in the future. This includes an overview of the presently available experimental techniques for microwave studies on heavy fermions, with a focus on broadband studies using the Corbino approach and on planar superconducting resonators.

Observing electron spin resonance between 0.1 and 67 GHz at temperatures between 50 mK and 300 K using broadband metallic coplanar waveguides

We describe a fully broadband approach for electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments, where it is possible to tune not only the magnetic field but also the frequency continuously over wide ranges. Here, a metallic coplanar transmission line acts as compact and versatile microwave probe that can easily be implemented in different cryogenic setups. We perform ESR measurements at frequencies between 0.1 and 67 GHz and at temperatures between 50 mK and room temperature. Three different types of samples (Cr3+ ions in ruby, organic radicals of the nitronyl-nitroxide family, and the doped semiconductor Si:P) represent different possible fields of application for the technique. We demonstrate that an extremely large phase space in temperature, magnetic field, and frequency for ESR measurements, substantially exceeding the range of conventional ESR setups, is accessible with metallic coplanar lines.

Broadband electron spin resonance from 500 MHz to 40 GHz using superconducting coplanar waveguides

We present non-conventional electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments based on microfabricated superconducting Nb thin film waveguides. A very broad frequency range, from 0.5 to 40 GHz, becomes accessible at low temperatures down to 1.6 K and in magnetic fields up to 1.4 T. This allows for an accurate inspection of the ESR absorption position in the frequency domain, in contrast to the more common observation as a function of magnetic field. We demonstrate the applicability of frequency-swept ESR on Cr3+ atoms in ruby as well as on organic radicals of the nitronyl-nitroxide family. Measurements between 1.6 and 30 K reveal a small frequency shift of the ESR and a resonance broadening below the critical temperature of Nb, which we both attribute to a modification of the magnetic field configuration due to the appearance of shielding supercurrents in the waveguide.

Electronic scattering effects in europium-based iron pnictides

Abstract In a comprehensive study, we investigate the electronic scattering effects in EuFe 2 ( As 1 − x P x ) 2 by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. In spite of the fact that Eu 2 + local moments order at around T Eu ∼ 20 K , the overall optical response is strikingly similar to the one of the well-known Ba-122 pnictides. The main difference lies within the suppression of the lower spin-density-wave gap feature. By analyzing our spectra with a multi-component model, we find that the high-energy feature around 0.7 eV – often associated with Hunds rule coupling – is highly sensitive to the spin-density-wave ordering; this further confirms its direct relationship to the dynamics of itinerant carriers. The same model is also used to investigate the in-plane anisotropy of magnetically detwinned EuFe 2 As 2 in the antiferromagnetically ordered state, yielding a higher Drude weight and lower scattering rate along the crystallographic a-axis. Finally, we analyze the development of the room-temperature spectra with isovalent phosphor substitution and highlight changes in the scattering rate of hole-like carriers induced by a Lifshitz transition.

The phase boundary of superconducting niobium thin films with antidot arrays fabricated with microsphere photolithography

The experimental investigation of the Ic(B)–Tc(B) phase boundary of superconducting niobium films with large area quasihexagonal hole arrays is reported. The hole arrays were patterned with microsphere photolithography. We investigate the perforated niobium films by means of electrical directed current transport measurements close to the transition temperature Tc in perpendicularly applied magnetic fields. We find pronounced modulations of the critical current with applied magnetic field, which we interpret as a consequence of commensurable states between the Abrikosov vortex lattice and the quasihexagonal pinning array. Furthermore, we observe Little–Parks oscillations in the critical temperature versus magnetic field.

Optimization of Coplanar Waveguide Resonators for ESR Studies on Metals

We present simulations and analytic calculations of the electromagnetic microwave fields of coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators in the vicinity of highly conducting metallic samples. The CPW structures are designed with the aim of investigating electron spin resonance (ESR) in metallic heavy-fermion systems, in particular YbRh

Electrodynamics of the Superconducting State in Ultra-Thin Films at THz Frequencies

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Evidence for charge order in organic superconductors obtained by vibrational spectroscopy

Si

Charge-order gap in α‐(BEDT‐TTF)2I3

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