Quantum cascade phenomenon in natural atomic superlattices formed in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 single crystals

Abstract

Natural atomic superlattices are formed in certain strongly anisotropic layered compound. Here we study interlayer transport in single crystals of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 cuprates, which represent stacks of atomic scale intrinsic Josephson junctions. A series of resonant dips in conductance is observed at condition when bremsstrahlung and recombination bands in non-equilibrium spectrum of Josephson junctions overlap. The phenomenon is explained in terms of self-detection of a new type of collective strongly non-equilibrium state in stacked Josephson junctions, bearing certain resemblance with operation of a Quantum Cascade Laser. Conclusions are supported by in-situ generation-detection experiments, providing evidence for cascade amplification of recombination radiation, and by numerical simulations.

arXiv comment12 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (9)

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Coherent THz emission of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks in the hot spot regime
• Hot spots and waves in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks -a study by Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy
• Interaction of hot spots and THz waves in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks of various geometry
• Phase dynamics of inductively coupled intrinsic Josephson junctions and terahertz electromagnetic radiation
• THz emission from intrinsic Josephson junctions at zero magnetic field via breather auto-oscillations
• Anticorrelation between temperature and fluctuations in moderately damped Josephson junctions
• Temperature dependence of the bulk energy gap in underdoped Bi-2212: Evidence for the mean-field superconducting transition
• Counterintuitive Consequence of Heating in Strongly-Driven Intrinsic-Junctions of Bi${}_2$Sr${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{8+\delta }$ Mesas
• Nonlinear nonequilibrium quasiparticle relaxation in Josephson junctions
• Observation of superluminal geometrical resonances in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x intrinsic Josephson junctions
• Observation of polaritons in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x single crystals
• Comparative analysis of tunneling magnetoresistance in low-$T_c$ Nb/AlAlOx/Nb and high-$T_c$ Bi${}_{2-y}$Pb${}_y$Sr${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{8+\delta }$ intrinsic Josephson junctions
• Persistent electrical doping of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x mesa structures
• Lasing at half the Josephson frequency with exponentially long coherence times
• THz phonon spectroscopy of doped superconducting cuprates
• Comment on Counterintuitive consequence of heating in strongly driven intrinsic junctions of Bi${}_2$Sr${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{8+\delta }$ mesas
• Sub-terahertz sound excitation and detection by long Josephson junction
• Strong polaritonic interaction between flux-flow and phonon resonances in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x intrinsic Josephson junctions: Angular dependence and the alignment procedure
• Observation of a subharmonic gap singularity in interlayer tunneling characteristics of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d