Superconductivity

Josephson junctions and signal treatment
Superconductors and their absence of electrical resistance can be harnessed for the analogue processing of RF signals selectively and without dissipation. An example is RF filters based on planar resonators manufactured by a microlithographic process, which offer an incomparable performance on a compact device. Josephson junctions are nanoscale structures where the subtler quantum properties of the superconducting state can be exploited. Naturally sensitive to magnetic fields, whether static or RF, we use them in quantum interference arrays that we develop as compact and ultra-wideband antennas.

Superconducting nanoelectronics
A remarkable property of superconductors is the total absence of electrical resistance below a critical temperature. This property makes it possible to produce devices for telecom systems with unrivalled frequency selectivity. But today we are going beyond the use of superconductors as simple materials with zero electrical resistance, by hybridizing them with other materials, or by micro and nanostructuring them, in order to obtain new functionalities and applications.

Superconducting hybrids
We study artificial structures (heterostructures, junctions) in which superconductors are combined with other materials (trivial metals, ferroics, Dirac materials like graphene, conventional semiconductors). In those hybrids, proximity effects, confinement, and the interplay between competing orders often yield novel physical properties and ground states nonexistent in the individual constituents.
Our objectives are therefore both to understand the physical mechanisms involved in that interplay, and to tailor and manipulate the hybrids’ properties with external stimuli. Those are the key steps for creating new superconducting applications and functionalities, the ultimate goal of this research.

Health systems
Thanks to their remarkable properties, superconductors can be used to improve the performance of medical imaging systems. Working with our collaborators (BioMaps, CRMSB, Chipiron), we are pursuing two ways: firstly, by increasing clinical field MRI images to unprecedented resolutions; secondly, by proposing a low-cost, transportable Low Field Imager prototype.