Zurek-Kibble Mechanism for the Spontaneous Vortex Formation in Nb-Al/Al{sub ox}/Nb Josephson Tunnel Junctions: New Theory and Experiment
- Istituto di Cibernetica del C.N.R., 80078, Pozzuoli (Italy) and Unita INFM-Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Salerno, 84081 Baronissi (Italy)
- Department of Physics, B309, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark)
- Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
- Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Science, Mokhovaya 11, Building 7, 125009, Moscow (Russian Federation)
New scaling behavior has been both predicted and observed in the spontaneous production of fluxons in quenched Nb-Al/Al{sub ox}/Nb annular Josephson tunnel junctions (JTJs) as a function of the quench time, {tau}{sub Q}. The probability f{sub 1} to trap a single defect during the normal-metal-superconductor phase transition clearly follows an allometric dependence on {tau}{sub Q} with a scaling exponent {sigma}=0.5, as predicted from the Zurek-Kibble mechanism for realistic JTJs formed by strongly coupled superconductors. This definitive experiment replaces one reported by us earlier, in which an idealized model was used that predicted {sigma}=0.25, commensurate with the then much poorer data. Our experiment remains the only condensed matter experiment to date to have measured a scaling exponent with any reliability.
- OSTI ID:
- 20777221
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, Issue 18; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.180604; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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