Flux Exclusion Superconducting Quantum Metamaterial: Towards Quantum-level Switching

Nonlinear and switchable metamaterials achieved by artificial structuring on the subwavelength scale have become a central topic in photonics research. Switching with only a few quanta of excitation per metamolecule, metamaterial's elementary building block, is the ultimate goal, achieving whic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2012-06, Vol.2 (1), p.450
Main Authors: Savinov, V., Tsiatmas, A., Buckingham, A. R., Fedotov, V. A., de Groot, P. A. J., Zheludev, N. I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Computer Simulation
Electric Conductivity
Electromagnetic Fields
Energy efficiency
Fluctuations
High temperature
Humanities and Social Sciences
Information processing
Manufactured Materials - standards
multidisciplinary
Nonlinear Dynamics
Quantum Theory
Science
Temperature
Temperature effects
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Description
Summary:Nonlinear and switchable metamaterials achieved by artificial structuring on the subwavelength scale have become a central topic in photonics research. Switching with only a few quanta of excitation per metamolecule, metamaterial's elementary building block, is the ultimate goal, achieving which will open new opportunities for energy efficient signal handling and quantum information processing. Recently, arrays of Josephson junction devices have been proposed as a possible solution. However, they require extremely high levels of nanofabrication. Here we introduce a new quantum superconducting metamaterial which exploits the magnetic flux quantization for switching. It does not contain Josephson junctions, making it simple to fabricate and scale into large arrays. The metamaterial was manufactured from a high-temperature superconductor and characterized in the low intensity regime, providing the first observation of the quantum phenomenon of flux exclusion affecting the far-field electromagnetic properties of the metamaterial.
ISSN:2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep00450