Quantum dynamics of a single vortex
Wallraff A, Lukashenko O, Lisenfeld J, Kemp A, Fistul M, Koval Y, Ustinov A (2003)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2003
Journal
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Book Volume: 425
Pages Range: 155
URI: http://www.fluxongroup.physik.uni-erlangen.de/publications/2003/Nature_Wallraff.pdf
DOI: 10.1038/nature01826
Abstract
Vortices occur naturally in a wide range of gases and fluids, from macroscopic to microscopic scales. In Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute atomic gases, superfluid helium and superconductors, the existence of vortices is a consequence of the quantum nature of the system. Quantized vortices of supercurrent are generated by magnetic flux penetrating the material, and play a key role in determining the material properties and the performance of superconductor-based devices. At high temperatures the dynamics of such vortices are essentially classical, while at low temperatures previous experiments have suggested collective quantum dynamics. However, the question of whether vortex tunnelling occurs at low temperatures has been addressed only for large collections of vortices. Here we study the quantum dynamics of an individual vortex in a superconducting Josephson junction. By measuring the statistics of the vortex escape from a controllable pinning potential, we demonstrate the existence of quantized levels of the vortex energy within the trapping well and quantum tunnelling of the vortex through the pinning barrier.
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APA:
Wallraff, A., Lukashenko, O., Lisenfeld, J., Kemp, A., Fistul, M., Koval, Y., & Ustinov, A. (2003). Quantum dynamics of a single vortex. Nature, 425, 155. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature01826
MLA:
Wallraff, Andreas, et al. "Quantum dynamics of a single vortex." Nature 425 (2003): 155.
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