CoE in Low Temperature Quantum Phenomena and Devices (2012-2017)

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Coordinator: Prof. Jukka Pekola, O.V. Lounasmaa Laboratory, Aalto University

Vice-coordinator: Research Prof. Heikki Seppä, Quantronics group, VTT

Scientific Advisory Board (SAB):

Professor William Halperin, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

Professor Andrew Cleland, University of California, USA 11.11.2013 -->

(Professor Markus Buttiker, Département de Physique Théorique Université de Genève, Switzerland - passed away in October 4, 2013)

UNIQ1fb12c6709a884d-h-0--QINU Mission

At low temperatures near absolute zero, physical systems eventually condense into their quantum mechanical ground state, and may exhibit extraordinary properties. In the superconducting state of metals, the electric current flows without loss, and in the superfluid state of helium, the flow is lossless as well. Both of these are macroscopic quantum-mechanical phenomena that occur at low temperatures. The Centre of Excellence in Low Temperature Quantum Phenomena and Devices investigates quantum phenomena, both in extremely ideal continuous media, such as helium liquids and crystals, and in man-made nanostructures. The goal is to produce quantum electronical and mechanical components with sensors based on superconducting and carbon based structures as the important circuit elements. A successful earlier example is presented by the superconducting sensors for measurements of brain activity.

UNIQ1fb12c6709a884d-h-1--QINU Research groups

The CoE comprises ten research groups, seven groups from theLow Temperature Laboratory and one (STM) group from the Department of Applied Physics of Aalto University School of Science. Two (QUANTRONICS and THERAHERTZ SENSING) of the groups are from the Microtechnologies and Electronics Unit of VTT. Nearly 40 PhD-level researchers (of which 7 professors, 1 professor emeritus, and 13 senior scientists) work in the CoE.

UNIQ1fb12c6709a884d-h-2--QINU NANO

The NANO group focuses on fundamental quantum phenomena in nanostructures using electronic transport measurements at microwave frequencies. The studies concentrate on novel hybrid systems combining electrical and mechanical degrees of freedom for sensing, mixing, and amplification applications.

Group leader: Prof. Pertti Hakonen
UNIQ1fb12c6709a884d-PersonnelInfo-00000000-QINU NANO publications

UNIQ7f827dc73ceab121-h-0--QINU PICO

The PICO group focuses on mesoscopic physics and its sensor applications. The main interest is on charge transport and thermal properties of metallic, superconducting and hybrid nanostructures. Particular research topics include electronic thermometry and refrigeration, nonequilibrium effects, Josephson devices, quantized and coherent charge pumping, noise, fluctuations and full counting statistics of charge and heat transport.

Group leader: Prof. Jukka Pekola
UNIQ7f827dc73ceab121-PersonnelInfo-00000002-QINU PICO publications

UNIQ30ea59072bcfa1f1-h-0--QINU ROTA

The research in the ROTA group is focused on the properties of superfluid 3He at ultra-low temperatures. The superfluid phases of 3He are the best experimentally accessible examples of topological superfluids, which share many properties with popular topological insulators and superconductors. We are interested in particular in emergent fermion zero modes, like Majorana fermions at the surfaces and in the cores of the topological defects of the order parameter. The dynamic behavior and interaction between the objects of different topologies are also investigated.

Group leader: Dr. Vladimir Eltsov
UNIQ30ea59072bcfa1f1-PersonnelInfo-00000004-QINU ROTA publications

UNIQ230c3ff85a964350-h-0--QINU µKI

The µKI group focuses on systems thermally active still at microkelvin range of temperatures. This applies to most nuclear spin ensembles, fermion fluids (pure and dilute 3He), and some conduction electron systems, which fail to develop superconductivity or magnetic ordering at higher temperatures. Different subsystems of matter may have very different temperatures at the same time, though they may be spatially inseparable. Fascinating examples of this are the assemblies of nuclear spins and conduction electrons in metals.

Group leader: Doc. Juha Tuoriniemi
UNIQ230c3ff85a964350-PersonnelInfo-00000006-QINU µKI publications

UNIQ4ad9ba503faffa04-h-0--QINU KVANTTI

The KVANTTI group focuses on phenomena related to quantum coherence in systems such as superconducting circuits and Bose-Einstein condensates. The group also develops experimental methods for exploring the interaction between microwave fields and nano-structured materials.

Group leader: Dr. Sorin Paraoanu
UNIQ4ad9ba503faffa04-PersonnelInfo-00000008-QINU KVANTTI Publications

UNIQ48cae8537534a3c3-h-0--QINU NEMS

The NEMS group focuses on studies of micro- and nanomechanical resonators near the quantum ground state of moving objects. In principle it is possible to prepare a nearly macroscopic body into a Schrödinger’s cat type of motional quantum state where the object resides in two places the same time. The group aims on measuring this exciting physics by coupling vibrating beams or graphene membranes to electrical circuits built upon superconducting junctions or resonators. The group also investigates quantum phenomena in such superconducting junction qubits.

Group leader: Prof. Mika Sillanpää

NEMS Publications

THEORY

The THEORY group focuses on studies of quantum condensed matter phenomena in superfluid 3He and in nanoelectronic systems. The previous is also used as a model system to understand phenomena taking place in other branches of physics, such as particle physics and cosmology. The focus of research in nanoelectronics is on nonequilibrium phenomena, fluctuations, superconductivity, nanoelectromechanics, and topological media.

Group leader: Prof. Tero Heikkilä

Tel: +358 40 805 4804

Email: tero.heikkila@jyu.fi

Office: YN 214 (Survontie 9, Jyväskylä)

Postal address: Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35 (YFL), FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland

THEORY publications

QUANTRONICS

The QUANTRONICS group develops new applications and innovations based on low temperature physics and electronics. The main competence areas include superconducting and quantum sensors and detectors, Josephson junction devices and circuits, and low noise readout electronics, supported by expertise in device fabrication and characterization. Research topics include also THz imaging, realization of low noise MEMS devices and, most recently, plasmonic phenomena.

Group leader: Docent Panu Helistö

Tel: +20 722 6827

Email: Panu.Helisto@vtt.fi

Office: Micronova, Tietotie 3, Espoo

Postal address: VTT, P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland

QUANTRONICS publications

THERAHERTZ SENSING

The THZ group focuses on developing technology for the spectral range covering millimeter- and submillimeter waves. The competences include sensors, components and instrumentation using superconductivity, electronics, microelectromechanics, and quantum mechanics. The aim is to handle the complete chain from sensor physics through instrumentation to commercial end-applications. The newly established spin-off company Asqella Oy (lead by previous THZ group leader Arttu Luukanen) is now commercializing passive submillimetre-wave video cameras for loss prevention and physical security applications.

Group leader: Senior Scientist Juha Hassel

Tel: +358 20 722 6771

E-mail: juha.hassel@vtt.fi

Office: 3207 (Micronova, Tietotie 3)

Postal address: VTT, P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland

THERAHERTZ SENSING Publications

STM

The STM group focuses on probing the structure and electronic properties of materials at the atomic scale using low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A particular interest of the group lies in fabricating and characterizing atomically well-defined nanostructures to study physical phenomena at the nanoscale.

Group leader: Prof. Peter Liljeroth

Tel: +358 50 363 6115

E-mail: peter.liljeroth_at_aalto.fi

Office: N203 (Puumiehenkuja 2A, 2nd floor)

STM Publications

Awards and honors

Volovik Grigory, Research, Lars Onsager Prize, APS Physics, 2014
Kopnin Nikolai, Research, Simon Memorial Pize, Institue of Physics, UK, Institue of Physics, UK, Beijing, China, 11.8.2011
Sillanpää Mika, Research, IUPAP C5 Young Scientist Prize in Low Temperature Physics, Internation Union of Pure and Applied Physics, London, Great Britain, 11.8.2011

Research highlights

2013 - 2014

Measured distribution of dissipation and entropy production and tests of fluctuation relations in single-electron tunneling (Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 180601 (2012), and Nature Physics 9, 644 (2013)).

Demonstrated the dynamical Casimir effect in a Josephson metamaterial (PNAS 110, 4234-4238 (2013)).

Simulated motional averaging with a superconducting circuit (Nat. Commun. 4, 1420 (2013)).

Showed a coherent interaction between a superconducting qubit and classical driven mechanical field (Nature, 494, 211–215 (2013)).

Predicted a huge thermoelectric effect taking place in tunnel junctions between ferromagnets and spin-split superconductors (arXiv:1307.4672).

Showed theoretically that surfaces of rhombohedral graphite can become superconducting at very high temperatures (Phys. Rev. B87, 140503(R) (2013)).

Demonstrated contacting an atomically well-defined graphene nanoribbon by a single chemical bond (Nature Comm. 4, 2023 (2013)).

Experiments suggest that graphene on h-BN is an ideal substrate for the study of molecular self-assembly toward controlling the electronic properties of graphene by engineered potential landscapes (Nano Letters 13, 3199 (2013)).

Developed kinetic inductance technology for passive THz imaging at elevated bath temperatures, and for ultra-low magnetic field sensing (Supercond. Sci. Technol. 27, 025002 (2014), and arxiv:1401.0668).

2011-2012

The first ever observation of individual Andreev tunneling events (arXiv:1012.5750, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 217003 (2011)).

Explained the signal amplification in optomechanical measurements related to the radiation pressure coupling, and showed that these systems can be used to get to the quantum limit of added noise (Nature 480, 351 (2011)).
Showed the generic topological origin of flat bands appearing at surfaces of topological semimetals and predicted high-temperature surface superconductivity appearing in them (JETP Lett. 94, 233 (2011), Phys. Rev. B 83, 220503(R) (2011)).
Showed a regime where the fluctuations of temperature in superconducting heterostructures become manifestly non-Gaussian (Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (2012)).
Described the topological phases and fractional domain wall excitations of one-dimensional chains (Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 166804 (2011)).
Described the dynamics of Andreev states in superconductor - normal metal - superconductor systems (Phys. Rev. B 84, 054504 (2011) and Sci. Rep. 1, 3 (2011)).
Presented an idea for a single-electron heat diode (Phys. Rev. B 83, 241404 (2011)).
Despite the enormous interest in the properties of graphene and the potential of graphene nanostructures in electronic applications, the study of quantum confined states in atomically well-defined graphene nanostructures remains an experimental challenge. We have presented the first experimental study of the electronic structure of atomically well-defined graphene quantum dots (GQDs). We measured the atomic structure and local density of states (LDOS) of individual GQDs by low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) as a function of their size and shape in the range from a couple of nanometres up to ca. 20 nm. We can directly visualize quantum confined electronic states with different envelope wavefunction symmetries that are analogous to the solutions of the text book "particle-in-a-box" problem applied to relativistic massless fermions (Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 236803 (2011)).
First direct measurements of dissipation in turbulent and laminar vortex dynamics in 3He-B with resolution of 0.1 pW have been performed. The results demonstrate decoupling of the rotating superfluid from the container reference frame in the T->0 limit.
Bose-Einstein condensation on an excited level of the potential well is demonstrated for the first time with measurements of coherent precession of the magnon condensate.
First measurements of quasiparticle reflection from the vortex cluster with known density and spatial extent proves quantitative understanding of Andreev reflection processes in 3He superfluids.

Societal impact

Patents

SEPPAE HEIKKI, SIPOLA HANNU, RAUTIAINEN ANSSI, HELISTOE PANU; METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IDENTIFYING AN ELECTRONIC CODE; EP2274707, HRP20121024, ES2396128, DK2274707.
SEPPAE HEIKKI, KYYNAERAEINEN JUKKA; MICROMECHANICAL MICROWAVE POWER METER; EP1761787, FI118490, US7808254, US7548074.
MARK ALLEN, TOMI MATTILA, ARI ALASTALO, HEIKKI SEPPAE; METHOD AND APPARATUS RELATED TO NANOPARTICLE SYSTEMS; FI122014, EP2001272, CN101325151.
SEPPAE HEIKKI, SILLANPAEAE TEUVO; DEVICE FOR MEASURING PRESSURE, VARIATION IN ACOUSTIC PRESSURE, A MAGNETIC FIELD, ACCELERATION, VIBRATION, OR THE COMPOSITION OF A GAS; JP5222955.
HAQUE SAMIUL MD, LEHTINIEMI REIJO, KAERKKAEINEN ASTA, LECHNER LORENZ, HAKONEN PERTTI; METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION TO GRAPHENE; DE112010002623.
MOETTOENEN MIKKO, PEKOLA JUKKA; DETECTOR OF SINGLE MICROWAVE PHOTONS PROPAGATING IN A GUIDE; FI122887.
PARAOANU GHEORGE SORIN, SARVALA KARI, CHALAPAT KHATTIYA; BROADBAND REFERENCE-PLANE INVARIANT METHOD AND ALGORITHM FOR MEASURING ELECTROMAGNETIC PARAMETERS OF MATERIALS; FI122901.
SEPPAE HEIKKI, HASSEL JUHA, HAKONEN PERTTI; LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER; WO2012123642.
TUBOLTSEV VLADIMIR, SAVIN ALEXANDER, RAEISAENEN JYRKI, PEKOLA JUKKA; MODULATION OF MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF A SUBSTRATE FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS; WO2012072857.
ERMOLOV VLADIMIR ALEXSANDROVICH, OKSANEN MARKKU ANTTONI, CHALAPAT KHATTIYA, PARAOANU GHEORGHE SORIN; COMPOSITE FOR PROVIDING ELECTROMAGNETIC SHIELDING; US2013032765, WO2013018040.
SEPPÄ, HEIKKI; POWER COLLECTOR STRUCTURE AND METHOD; PCT/FI2011/050768, WO/2012/032221.
ALASTALO ARI, ALLEN MARK, MATTILA TOMI, SEPPAE HEIKKI, VARPULA TIMO, VIIKARI VILLE; NON-LINEAR RESONATING SENSOR AND A METHOD; WO11121180A.
SEPPAE HEIKKI, MATTILA TOMI, LEPPAENIEMI JAAKKO, ARONNIEMI ARI, ALLEN MARK, ALASTALO ARI; PROGRAMMABLE PRINTED ELECTRIC CODE, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME AND A PROGRAMMING DEVICE; WO11073509A.
VIIKARI VILLE, VARPULA TIMO, SEPPAE HEIKKI, NUMMILA KAJ; A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OBJECT LOCALIZATION; WO11048267A.
SIPOLA HANNU, RAUTIAINEN ANSSI, HELISTOE PANU; READING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ELECTRICAL CODES; WO11121185A.

Spinoff companies

Since 2006 the scientists of the CoE have founded two spinoff companies, Bluefors Cryogenics in 2008 and Asqella Oy in 2013.

Bluefors is manufacturing dry pulse-tube-driven dilution refrigerators and Asqella is producing passive submillimetre-wave video cameras for loss prevention and physical security applications.

The CoE is closely collaborating with its older spinoff companies, Nanoway Cryoelectronics, founded in 2003, and Aivon Oy, founded in 2005.

Degrees

PhD

Juho Rysti 2013. Supervisor Prof. Pertti Hakonen, Instructor Juha Tuoriniemi, Opponent Prof. Jeevak Parpia.
Olli-Pentti Saira 2013. Supervisor Prof. Jukka Pekola, Opponent Prof. Gerd Schön.
Lorenz Lechner 2013. Supervisor Prof. Pertti Hakonen, Opponent Prof. Vincent Bouchiat.
Khattiya Chalapat 2013. Supervisor Prof. Jukka Pekola, Instructor Dr. Sorin Paraoanu, Opponent Prof. Eyal Buks.
Jian Li 2012. Instructor Dr. Sorin Paraoanu, Opponent Prof. Leonardo DiCarlo.
Tomi Ruokola 2012. Instructor Dr. Teemu Ojanen, Opponent Prof. Frank Hekking.
Jaakko Hosio 2012. Instructors Prof. Matti Krusius and Dr. Vladimir Eltsov, Opponent Prof. Andrei Golov.
Juha Muhonen 2012. Instructor Prof. Jukka Pekola, Opponent Prof. Dominik Zumbühl.
Juha Voutilainen 2012. Instructor Dr. Tero Heikkilä, Opponent Prof. Juan Carlos Cuevas.
Matti Laakso 2012. Instructor Dr. Tero Heikkilä, Opponent Prof. Alexander Altland.
Ansi Salmela 2012. Instructor Dr. Juha Tuoriniemi, Opponent Prof. Ladislav Skrbek.
Janne Karimäki 2012. Supervisors Prof. E. Thuneberg, Dr. R. Hänninen, Prof. Alexander L. Fetter.
Robert Jan de Graaf 2011. Supervisors Matti Krusius and Vladimir Eltsov, Opponent Shaun Fisher.
Joonas Peltonen 2011. Fluctuations, relaxation and proximity effect in superconducting circuits, Supervisor Jukka Pekola, Opponent Norman Birge.

MSc

Hietala Niklas graduated as M.Sc. from the Department of Physics of University of Helsinki (UH) on August 30th, 2013. His diploma thesis Kelvin Waves in Quantum Turbulence was completed in LTL. Supervisor: Kari Hänninen (UH). Instructor: Dr. Risto Hänninen.
Autti Samuli graduated as M.Sc. from DAP Aalto on June 12th, 2013. His diploma thesis Magnon Bose-Einstein condensates in superfluid 3He-B was completed in LTL. Supervisor: Prof. Pertti Hakonen. Instructor: Dr. Vladimir Eltsov.
Kauppila Ville graduated as M.Sc. from DAP Aalto on December 12th, 2012. His diploma thesis Temperature and Quasiparticle Fluctuations in Superconductors was completed in LTL. Supervisor: Prof. Jukka Pekola. Instructor: Dr. Tero Heikkilä.
Koski Jonne graduated as M.Sc. from DAP Aalto on April 24th, 2012. His diploma thesis Heat transfer of a tunnel junction in a resistive environment was done at OVLL. Supervisor: Prof. Matti Kaivola. Instructor: Prof. Jukka Pekola.
Berdova Maria graduated as M.Sc. from Lappeenranta University of Technology on Au-gust 14th, 2011. Her diploma thesis Nanomechanical resonator made out aluminium mem-brane was done in the LTL. Supervisor: Dr. Mika Sillanpää. Instructor: MSc. Juha-Matti Pirkkalainen.
Väyrynen Jukka graduated as M.Sc. from the Department of Physics of University of Hel-sinki on April 4th, 2011. His diploma thesis The Gradient Expansion and Topological Insu-lators was done in the LTL. Supervisor: Prof. Kari Rummukainen. Instructor: Dr. Teemu Ojanen.

CoE workshop

In November 2013 LTQ organized a successful two-day workshop in Tuusula near Helsinki attended by the majority of the researchers within the CoE and by some close collaborators on campus and outside (altogether 72 participants). The main research directions were presented by the senior members in tutorial lectures and by students and post docs in shorter presentations.

CoE workshop 2013

Non-public information on the intranet

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