Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the radiation from high-temperature superconducting mesas of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+ (BSCCO). This is motivated by the need for coherent sources of continuous wave terahertz (THz) emission capable of radiating practically in the THz frequency band. As BSCCO has been shown to be tunable from 0.5–2.4 THz (i.e., through the entire socalled terahertz gap centered about 1 THz), and has a higher peak operating temperature near 1 THz than most alternative sources, it is a good candidate for imaging and spectroscopy device applications [1]. When a static DC voltage is applied to a BSCCO mesa, the stack of Josephson junctions intrinsic to this type-II layered superconductor synchronously radiate. Adjustment of the bath temperature and applied voltage allows for the high degree of tunability observed for such an emitter [2]. To determine the angular dependence of radiation from BSCCO mesas, the dual source model from antenna theory is employed, and Love’s equivalence principle is used to simplify this framework. The total emission power obtained in this manner for the pie-shaped wedge is then fit to experimental results for a thin isosceles triangular mesa using the method of least squares, resulting in a standard deviation of = 0:4657. Additionally, symmetry is shown to play a significant role in the emissions for the transverse magnetic (TM) cavity modes of the equilateral triangular mesa. When the full group symmetry is imposed, the density of allowed modes is heavily diminished, and the original first excited even mode becomes the C3v symmetric ground state. These results for the equilateral triangle suggest, along with earlier experiments on the regular pentagonal mesa [3], that symmetry breaking effects can be used for purposes of tuning the characteristic frequency and angular dependence of the power radiated from BSCCO mesas with a high degree of symmetry.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2015

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Klemm, Richard

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Physics

Degree Program

Physics

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences; Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

Format

PDF

Identifier

CFH0004898

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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Physics Commons

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