Josephson plasmonics in layered superconductors

We review the optical physics of Josephson plasmons in cuprate superconductors. These coherent charge modes arise from tunneling of the superfluid between superconducting planes and exhibit strong nonlinearities and quantum coherent dynamics at THz frequencies. We summarize early transport and micro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAdvances in physics: X Vol. 1; no. 3; pp. 387 - 411
Main Authors Laplace, Y., Cavalleri, A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Taylor & Francis 03.05.2016
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
74.25.Gz optical properties
74.40.Gh Nonequilibrium superconductivity
74.50.+r tunneling phenomena, Josephson effects
74.72.-h cuprate superconductors
Bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide
Breathers
Experiments
Fluids
Laser cooling
Physics
Plasma
Plasma (physics)
Plasma waves
plasmonics
Plasmons
Superconductivity
Superfluidity
Temperature
terahertz
Terahertz frequencies
United Kingdom > UK
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Summary:We review the optical physics of Josephson plasmons in cuprate superconductors. These coherent charge modes arise from tunneling of the superfluid between superconducting planes and exhibit strong nonlinearities and quantum coherent dynamics at THz frequencies. We summarize early transport and microwave experiments in Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+δ (BSCCO) and discuss more recent work performed in La 2−x Sr x CuO 4 (LSCO) and La 2−x Ba x CuO 4 (LBCO) using nonlinear THz techniques. We cover THz-driven oscillations between superconducting and resistive states, optical excitation of solitonic breathers, and the parametric amplification of Josephson plasma waves. The last part of the review discusses some new research directions, including cooling of superconducting phase fluctuations with lasers and optical cavity control techniques.
ISSN:2374-6149
2374-6149
DOI:10.1080/23746149.2016.1212671