Superconductor terahertz metamaterial

TL;DR

This paper investigates the terahertz response of YBCO superconductor split ring resonators, revealing temperature-dependent transmission changes and the impact of material imperfections on performance.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed characterization of high-Tc superconductor metamaterials in the terahertz range, highlighting the effects of material defects.

Findings

Sharp transmission changes at resonance below transition temperature

Material imperfections limit metamaterial performance

Defects cause energy dissipation and resistance

Abstract

We characterize the behaviour of split ring resonators made up of high-transition temperature YBCO superconductor using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. The superconductor metamaterial shows sharp change in the transmission spectrum at the fundamental inductive-capacitive resonance and the dipole resonance as the temperature dips below the transition temperature. Our results reveal that the high performance of such a metamaterial is limited by material imperfections and defects such as cracks, voids and secondary phases which play dominant role in partially impeding the flow of current causing dissipation of energy and electrical resistance to appear in the superconductor film.