Ryo Nakayama

Broadly tunable subterahertz emission from internal branches of the current-voltage characteristics of superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) single crystals.

Continuous, coherent subterahertz radiation arises when a dc voltage is applied across a stack of the many intrinsic Josephson junctions in a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) single crystal. The active junctions produce an equal number of I-V characteristic branches. Each branch radiates at a slightly tunable frequency obeying the Josephson relation. The overall output is broadly tunable and nearly independent of heating effects and internal cavity frequencies. Amplification by a surrounding external cavity to allow for the development of a useful high-power source is proposed.

High Temperature Superconductor Terahertz Emitters: Fundamental Physics and Its Applications

Coherent and continuous radiation sources of the electromagnetic (EM) waves at terahertz (1 THz = 1012 c/s) frequencies using a mesa structure fabricated from high temperature superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+? single crystals are described with a special emphasis on the physics of the radiation mechanism and the applications. After the intensive studies of many mesas fabricated with different conditions, it is revealed that the ac-Josephson effect works as a primary driving mechanism of the radiation and the cavity resonance needed for stronger radiation plays an additional role to the mechanism, although both are working together while radiating. A prototype of the imaging machine for multipurpose uses has successfully been developed.

Terahertz imaging system using high-Tc superconducting oscillation devices

Microwatt power oscillation devices at sub-terahertz frequency region between 0.3 and 1.0 terahertz (THz) were fabricated from high-Tc superconducting single crystalline Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ and used as a source of the transmission terahertz imaging system. As test examples, terahertz images of coins and a razor blade placed inside the brownish paper envelopes with the spatial resolution of 1 mm are presented. The signal-to-noise ratio exceeds 130 in these images. Using a simple wedge-shaped interferometer and analysing the interference fringe pattern, the wavelength of the terahertz wave is calibrated within 0.1% accuracy. This interferometer also provides a simple method to measure the absorption coefficient of the liquid sample. Two test measurements for distilled water and ethanol are demonstrated and their absorption coefficients are obtained with 99.2% accuracy. This suggests that our terahertz imaging system can be applied to many practical applications, such as biological and biomedical imaging, enviro...

Geometrical Full-Wavelength Resonance Mode Generating Terahertz Waves from a Single-Crystalline Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+\delta Rectangular Mesa

The terahertz radiation from a rectangular mesa of single-crystalline Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+δ with dimensions of 80 ×320 ×1.6 µm 3 fabricated by Ar and focused ion bean milling techniques was studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and angular distribution measurement of the radiation intensity. The emission measured using the FTIR spectrometer is centered at 0.9219 THz, which corresponds to exactly twice of that previously observed from mesas of the same width. The spectral width was as narrow as 7.5 GHz, which is limited by the instrumental resolution. The radiation obeys the ac Josephson relation and has a tunability of about 7% in frequency. The angular distribution of the emission power was analyzed using the conventional patch antenna theory. Both results strongly suggest that the excitation mode with a standing full-wavelength may be observed across the mesa width as the fundamental mode, instead of the half-wavelength mode commonly observed previously.

THz emission from a triangular mesa structure of Bi-2212 intrinsic Josephson junctions

Coherent, continuous and monochromatic terahertz electromagnetic waves were observed from the isosceles triangular mesa structures made of single crystalline high temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi-2212) intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs), fabricated by the focus ion beam (FIB) technique. We studied experimentally the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics and the emission spectra by the FT-IR spectrometer in order to elucidate the radiation mechanism. The wide range of radiation frequency observed in the case of isosceles triangular mesa implies that the cavity resonance is not working properly but the ac-Josephson effect is working as a primary mechanism of THz radiation.

Quantum computational Riemannian and sub-Riemannian geodesics

Nielsen et al. have introduced a Riemannian metric on the space of n-qubit unitary operators [M. A. Nielsen, M. R. Dowling, M. Gu and A. C. Doherty, Science 311 (2006), 1133]. The length of the shortest curve connecting the identity I and a desired unitary operator W defined by this metric is essentially equivalent to the quantum gate complexity of W . This metric, and thus, the Riemannian geodesic equation for this metric, has a parameter q called “penalty” that must be large enough. In this paper, we investigate the sub-Riemannian geodesic equation obtained by taking the limit of the Riemannian geodesic equation as q → ∞, and show that the Riemannian geodesics for finite q can be explicitly constructed from the sub-Riemannian geodesics. We also present a numerical algorithm for finding the (sub-)Riemannian geodesics connecting I and W , which is based on the Krotov method in optimal control theory. As an example, we give an exact sub-Riemannian geodesic connecting I and the controlled-controlled-Z gate, which is obtained by guessing from the numerical results of the algorithm.

THz-wave emission from inner I-V branches of intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

We have observed emissions of intense, continuous and monochromatic EM waves at THz frequencies from intrinsic Josephson junctions in the single crystalline Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ mesa structure, which take place deep inside the multiple branch structures of the current-voltage characteristics. We measured a rectangular groove-type mesa sample with a nearly square shape fabricated by focused ion beam milling. The detection of emitted THz-waves and the spectroscopic measurement by the FT-IR spectrometer for obtaining the radiation frequency were performed simultaneously during the current-voltage measurement. By sweeping the voltage on a particular branch, we have observed that the radiation frequency varied in a relatively wider range than expected from the conventional cavity resonance condition, and that the frequency obeys the ac Josephson relation, in which the Josephson frequency is universally proportional to the voltage. These experimental facts may provide us significant information to understand the mechanism of the THz-wave emission from intrinsic Josephson junctions in order to make use of them as useful THz sources for many practical applications.

Excitation mode characteristics in Bi2212 rectangular mesa structures

The rectangular mesa structure of single crystalline Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ with the dimensions of 64 × 135 × 1.35 μm3 was fabricated by using Ar-ion milling with a metallic mask and focused ion beam. From this mesa, the radiation frequencies of 24.226 cm−1 and 17.296 cm−1 were observed at the different temperatures of 25 K and 40 K, respectively. The change of the radiation frequencies is also obviously reflected in the radiation pattern measurement. The radiation pattern observed at lower temperature seems to have an asymmetric shape and its intensity as a whole is slightly weak. In the higher temperature, however, the radiation intensity increases and the radiation pattern becomes almost symmetric shape. The radiation characteristics observed at higher temperature is well explained by the fundamental cavity resonance mode expected from the width of the mesa. This result may give us not only the suggestion of the existence of the adequate matching condition between the geometrical cavity and the ac Josephson current in the mesa but also the guide for the designing of the high efficiency of the radiation.