Electronic structure and spatial inhomogeneity of iron-based superconductor FeS

Iron-based superconductor family FeX(X=S,Se,Te)has been one of the research foci in physics and material science due to their record-breaking superconducting temperature(FeSe film)and rich physical phenomena.Recently,FeS,the least studied Fe X compound(due to the difficulty in synthesizing high quality macroscopic crystals)attracted much attention because of its puzzling superconducting pairing symmetry.In this work,combining scanning tunneling microscopy and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES)with sub-micron spatial resolution,we investigate the intrinsic electronic structures of superconducting FeS from individual single crystalline domains.Unlike FeTe or FeSe,FeS remains identical tetragonal structure from room temperature down to 5 K,and the band structures observed can be well reproduced by our ab-initio calculations.Remarkably,mixed with the 1×1 tetragonal metallic phase,we also observe the coexistence of √5×√5 reconstructed insulating phase in the crystal,which not only helps explain the unusual properties of FeS,but also demonstrates the importance of using spatially resolved experimental tools in the study of this compound.

Performance study of aluminum shielded room for ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging based on SQUID： Simulations and experiments

The aluminum shielded room has been an important part of ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging （ULF MRI） based on the superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID）. The shielded room is effective to attenuate the external radio-frequency field and keep the extremely sensitive detector, SQUID, working properly. A high-performance shielded room can increase the signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） and improve image quality. In this study, a circular coil with a diameter of 50 cm and a square coil with a side length of 2.0 m was used to simulate the magnetic fields from the nearby electric apparatuses and the distant environmental noise sources. The shielding effectivenesses （SE） of the shielded room with different thicknesses of aluminum sheets were calculated and simulated. A room using 6-mm-thick aluminum plates with a dimension of 1.5 m x 1.5 m x 2.0 m was then constructed. The SE was experimentally measured by using three-axis SQUID magnetometers, with tranisent magnetic field induced in the aluminum plates by the strong pre-polarization pulses. The results of the measured SE agreed with that from the simulation. In addition, the introduction of a 0.5-mm gap caused the obvious reduction of SE indicating the importance of door design. The nuclear magnetic resonance （NMR） signals of water at 5.9 kHz were measured in free space and in a shielded room, and the SNR was improved from 3 to 15. The simulation and experimental results will help us design an aluminum shielded room which satisfies the requirements for future ULF human brain imaging. Finally, the cancellation technique of the transient eddy current was tried, the simulation of the cancellation technique will lead us to finding an appropriate way to suppress the eddy current fields.

Fabrication and characterization of all-Nb lumped-element Josephson parametric amplifiers

Josephson parametric amplifiers (JPAs) with nearly quantum-limited noise performance have become indispensable devices for the measurements of superconducting quantum information. We have developed an all-Nb lumped-element flux-driven JPA operating in the three-wave mixing mode. Our Nb-based JPA comprises Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb Josephson junctions, a parallel-plate capacitor with SiO2 dielectric sandwiched between two Nb layers, a bottom coplanar waveguides layer, and a top Nb wiring layer. We experimentally demonstrate a 20 dB gain over a 190 MHz bandwidth, a mean 1 dB compression of -123 dBm, and near quantum-limited noise performance. This fabrication process can be further used to design impedance transformed parametric amplifiers for multiple-qubit readout.

Development of series SQUID array with on-chip filter for TES detector

A cold preamplifier based on superconducting quantum interference devices(SQUIDs)is currently the preferred readout technology for the low-noise transition edge sensor(TES).In this work,we have designed and fabricated a series SQUID array(SSA)amplifier for the TES detector readout circuit.In this SSA amplifier,each SQUID cell is composed of a first-order gradiometer formed using two equally large square washers,and an on-chip low pass filter(LPF)as a radiofrequency(RF)choke has been developed to reduce the Josephson oscillation interference between individual SQUID cells.In addition,a highly symmetric layout has been designed carefully to provide a fully consistent embedded electromagnetic environment and achieve coherent flux operation.The measured results show smooth V-Φcharacteristics and a swing voltage that increases linearly with increasing SQUID cell number N.A white flux noise level as low as 0.28μφ;/Hz;is achieved at 0.1 K,corresponding to a low current noise level of 7 pA/Hz;.We analyze the measured noise contribution at mK-scale temperatures and find that the dominant noise derives from a combination of the SSA intrinsic noise and the equivalent current noise of the room temperature electronics.

Wavelength dependence of intrinsic detection efficiency of NbN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors(SNSPDs) have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent detection performance;however, the underlying physics of the detection process is still unclear.In this study, we investigate the wavelength dependence of the intrinsic detection efficiency(IDE) for NbN SNSPDs.We fabricate various NbN SNSPDs with linewidths ranging from 30 nm to 140 nm.Then, for each detector, the IDE curves as a function of bias current for different incident photon wavelengths of 510–1700 nm are obtained.From the IDE curves, the relations between photon energy and bias current at a certain IDE are extracted.The results exhibit clear nonlinear energy–current relations for the NbN detectors, indicating that a detection model only considering quasiparticle diffusion is unsuitable for the meander-type NbN-based SNSPDs.Our work provides additional experimental data on SNSPD detection mechanism and may serve as an interesting reference for further investigation.

Tuning the Electronic Structure of Sr2IrO4 Thin Films by Bulk Electronic Doping Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy

By means of oxide molecular beam epitaxy with shutter-growth mode, we fabricate a series of electron-doped （Sr1-xLax）2IrO4 （001） （x=0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15） single crystalline thin films and then investigate the doping dependence of the electronic structure utilizing in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. It is found that with the increasing doping content, the Fermi levels of samples progressively shift upward. Prominently, an extra electron pocket crossing the Fermi level around the M point is evidently observed in the 15% nominal doping sample. Moreover, bulk-sensitive transport measurements confirm that the doping effectively suppresses the insulating state with respect to the as-grown Sr2IrO4, though the doped samples still remain insulating at low temperatures due to the localization effect possibly stemming from disorders including oxygen deficiencies. Our work provides another feasible doping method to tune electronic structure of Sr2 IrO4.

Electronic structure of single-crystalline graphene grown on Cu/Ni(111) alloy film

Graphene with a Dirac cone-like electronic structure has been extensively studied because of its novel transport properties and potential application for future electronic devices.For epitaxially grown graphene,the process conditions and the microstructures are strongly dependent on various substrate materials with different lattice constants and interface energies.Utilizing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy,here we report an investigation of the electronic structure of single-crystalline graphene grown on Cu/Ni(111)alloy film by chemical vapor deposition.With a relatively low growth temperature,graphene on Cu/Ni(111)exhibits a Dirac cone-like dispersion comparable to that of graphene grown on Cu(111).The linear dispersions forming Dirac cone are as wide as 2 e V,with the Fermi velocity of approximately 1.1×10^6 m/s.Dirac cone opens a gap of approximately 152 meV at the binding energy of approximately 304 meV.Our findings would promote the study of engineering of graphene on different substrate materials.

Baseline optimization of SQUID gradiometer for magnetocardiography

SQUID gradiometer techniques are widely used in noise cancellation for biomagnetic measurements.An appropriate gradiometer baseline is very important for the biomagnetic detection with high performance.By placing several magnetometers at different heights along the vertical direction,we could simultaneously obtain the synthetic gradiometers with different baselines.By using the traditional signal-to-noise ratio（SNR） as a performance index,we successfully obtain an optimal baseline for the magnetocardiography（MCG） measurement in a magnetically shielded room（MSR）.Finally,we obtain an optimal baseline of 7 cm and use it for the practical MCG measurement in our MSR.The SNR about 38 dB is obtained in the recorded MCG signal.

Optimization of pick-up coils for weakly damped SQUID gradiometers

The performance of a superconducting quantum interference device（SQUID） gradiometer is always determined by its pick-up coil geometry, such as baseline and radius. In this paper, based on the expressions for the coupled flux threading a magnetometer obtained by Wikswo, we studied how the gradiometer performance parameters, including the current dipole sensitivity, spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio（SNR）, are affected by its pick-up coil via Mat Lab simulation.Depending on the simulation results, the optimal pick-up coil design region for a certain gradiometer can be obtained.To verify the simulation results, we designed and fabricated several first-order gradiometers based on the weakly damped SQUID with different pick-up coils by applying superconducting connection. The experimental measurements were conducted on a simple current dipole in a magnetically shielding room. The measurement results are well in coincidence with the simulation ones, indicating that the simulation model is useful in specific pick-up coil design.

Performance of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detection System

We present our lab cryocooler-based superconducting nanowire single photon detection （SNSPD） system. The dark count rate and system quantum efficiency are investigated at the bath temperature of 3.1 K with a 300-inK temperature fluctuation. The polarization sensitivity of the SNSPD is also measured, and the system counting rate and the timing jitter are discussed.

Inter-Operator Interference Coordination for CoPrimary Spectrum Sharing in UDN

Co-primary spectrum sharing for multiple operators has been utilized to fully explore the spectrum resources and thus improve the spectrum efficiency. The inter-operator interference(IOI) problem should be seriously considered in order to achieve the mentioned target, especially under the scenario of the ultradense network(UDN) in the fifth generation(5G) wireless systems. To solve this problem, we propose an asymmetrical power levels based soft IOI coordination mechanism. The shared spectrum pool is consisted of three separated parts, where each part can be dynamically adjusted according to the minimal spectrum demand from each operator. Furthermore, different power masks are configured to different parts for each operator. The simulation results show that the proposed mechanism can improve the network spectrum efficiency significantly.

Neighbor-Aware Multiple Access Protocol for 5G m MTC Applications

In order to support massive Machine Type Communication(mMTC) applications in future Fifth Generation(5G) systems,a key technical challenge is to design a highly effective multiple access protocol for massive connection requests and huge traffic load from all kinds of smart devices,e.g.bike,watch,phone,ring,glasses,shoes,etc..To solve this hard problem in distributed scenarios with massive competing devices,this paper proposes and evaluates a Neighbor-Aware Multiple Access(NAMA) protocol,which is scalable and adaptive to different connectivity size and traffic load.By exploiting acknowledgement signals broadcasted from the neighboring devices with successful packet transmissions,NAMA is able to turn itself from a contention-based random access protocol to become a contention-free deterministic access protocol with particular transmission schedules for all neighboring devices after a short transition period.The performance of NAMA is fully evaluated from random state to deterministic state through extensive computer simulations under different network sizes and Contention Window(CW)settings.Compared with traditional IEEE802.11 Distributed Coordination Function(DCF),for a crowded network with 50 devices,NAMA can greatly improve system throughput and energy efficiency by more than 110%and210%,respectively,while reducing average access delay by 53%in the deterministic state.

An efficient calibration method for SQUID measurement system using three orthogonal Helmholtz coils

For a practical superconducting quantum interference device（SQUID） based measurement system,the Tesla/volt coefficient must be accurately calibrated.In this paper,we propose a highly efficient method of calibrating a SQUID magnetometer system using three orthogonal Helmholtz coils.The Tesla/volt coefficient is regarded as the magnitude of a vector pointing to the normal direction of the pickup coil.By applying magnetic fields through a three-dimensional Helmholtz coil,the Tesla/volt coefficient can be directly calculated from magnetometer responses to the three orthogonally applied magnetic fields.Calibration with alternating current（AC） field is normally used for better signal-to-noise ratio in noisy urban environments and the results are compared with the direct current（DC） calibration to avoid possible effects due to eddy current.In our experiment,a calibration relative error of about 6.89 × 10-4is obtained,and the error is mainly caused by the non-orthogonality of three axes of the Helmholtz coils.The method does not need precise alignment of the magnetometer inside the Helmholtz coil.It can be used for the multichannel magnetometer system calibration effectively and accurately.

A SQUID gradiometer module with large junction shunt resistors

A dual-washer superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID） with a loop inductance of 350 pH and two on- washer integrated input coils is designed according to conventional niobium technology. In order to obtain a large SQUID flux-to-voltage transfer coefficient, the junction shunt resistance is selected to be 33 Ω. A vertical SQUID gradiometer module with a baseline of 100 mm is constructed by utilizing such a SQUID and a first-order niobium wire-wound antenna. The sensitivity of this module reaches about 0.2 fT/（cm.Hz1/2） in the white noise range using a direct readout scheme, i.e., the SQUID is directly connected to an operational amplifier, in a magnetically shielded room. Some magnetocardiography （MCG） measurements with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） are demonstrated.

Photon-counting chirped amplitude modulation lidar system using superconducting nanowire single-photon detector at 1550-nm wavelength

We demonstrate a photon-counting chirped amplitude modulation （CAM） light detection and ranging （lidar） system incorporating a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector （SNSPD） and operated at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The distance accuracy of the lidar system was determined by the CAM bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） of an intermediate frequency （IF） signal. Owing to a short dead time （10 ns） and negligible dark count rate （70 Hz） of the SNSPD, the obtained IF signal attained an SNR of 42 dB and the direct distance accuracy was improved to 3 mm when the modulation bandwidth of the CAM signal was 240 MHz and the modulation period was 1 ms.

Weight Based Channel Selection Towards 5G in the Unlicensed Spectrum

The growth of the wireless and mobile communication data traffic has brought severe challenges to the present telecommu- nication systems. To meet the ever-increasing mobile traffic demand in the next 5th generation （SG） communication systems, deploying 5G in the unlicensed spectrum （SG-U）, has been regarded as a promising technology. The Third Generation Partnership Project （3GPP） has specified the standardization of the Li- censed Assisted Access （LAA） and its extension enhanced LAA （eLAA）, to opportunistically transmit in the unlicensed spectrum. The LAA/eLAA systems share unlicensed spectrum resource with other networks, e.g., the Wi-Fi systems. In this article, we analyze the coexistence between the eLAA and the Wi-Fi systems in the unlicensed spectrum. We firstly establish the system model where the eLAA coexists with the Wi-Fi systems. Then, we theoretically derive and figure out the unfairness in the multi-channel occupancy rate between the eLAA and the Wi-Fi systems. After that, we propose a weight based channel selection method to improve the fairness of the coexistence. The numerical results demonstrate that by avoiding contentions and declining collisions, our method not only enhances the fairness, but also improves the overall unlicensed spectrum usage rate.

Fabrication and characterization of on-chip silicon spherical-like microcavities with high Q-factors

An effective way to fabricate high-quality(Q)silicon microcavities on-chip is proposed and studied.Our fabrication technique consists of two significant steps:(1)patterning a special silicon micro-pillar by Bosch processes and(2)subsequent reflow of the pillar into a spherical-like microcavity using a laser pulse at 532 nm.Its shape and surface roughness are characterized using a scanning electron microscope and an atomic force microscope.The root-mean-square roughness of the surface is about 0.6 nm.A representative value for the loaded Q-factors of our silicon spherical-like microcavities is on the order of 10^(5).

A delay-constrained energy-efficient component carrier adjusting scheme for LTE-Advanced systems

The energy efficiency and packet delay tradeoffs in long term evolution-advanced(LTE-A) systems are investigated.Analytical expressions are derived to explain the relation of energy efficiency to mean packet delay,arrival rate and component carrier(CC) configurations,from the theoretical respective which reveals that the energy efficiency of multiple CC systems is closely related to the frequency of CCs and the number of active CCs.Based on the theoretical analysis,a CC adjusting scheme for LTE-A systems is proposed to maximize energy efficiency subject to delay constraint by dynamically altering the on/off state of CCs according to traffic variations.Numerical and simulation results show that for CCs in different frequency bands with equal transmit power,the proposed scheme could significantly improve the energy efficiency of users in all aggregation levels within the constraint of mean packet delay.

Multichannel fetal magnetocardiography using SQUID bootstrap circuit

Fetal magnetocardiography （MCG） is a sophisticated non-invasive technique for the fetal heart diagnosis. We constructed a multichannel fetal MCG system based on a novel superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID） direct readout scheme called SQUID bootstrap circuit （SBC）. The system incorporates four SBC gradiometers for the signal detection and three SBC magnetometers as the references. The fetal MCG signal at a 28-weeks’ gestation was measured. By the fetal MCG signal separation and average, the P-wave and QRS complex can be clearly identified. These results indicate that the SBC is one of the most promising techniques for the fetal MCG recordings.

A review on flexible solar cells

With the gradual progression of the carbon neutrality target,the future of our electricity supply will experience a massive increase in solar generation,and approximately 50%of the global electricity generation will come from solar generation by 2050.This provides the opportunity for researchers to diversify the applications of photovoltaics(PVs)and integrate for daily use in the future.Flexible solar cell technology is the next frontier in solar PV and is the key way to achieve CO_(2)neutrality.The integration of PV technology with other fields will greatly broaden the development areas for the PV industry,providing products with higher added value.In this paper,we reviewed the latest research progress on flexible solar cells(perovskite solar cells,organic solar cells,and flexible silicon solar cells),and proposed the future applications of flexible solar cell technology.