For a successful point-contact spectroscopy (PCS) measurement, metallic tips of proper shape and smoothness are essential to ensure the ballistic nature of a point-contact junction. Until recently, the fabrication of Au tips suitable for use in point-contact spectroscopy has remained more of an art involving a trial and error method rather than an automated scientific process. To address these issues, we have developed a technique with which one can prepare high quality Au tips reproducibly and systematically. It involves an electronic control of the driving voltages used for an electrochemical etching of a gold wire in a HCl-glycerol mixture or a HCl solution. We find that a stopping current, below which the circuit is set to shut off, is a single very important parameter to produce an Au tip of desired shape. We present detailed descriptions for a two-step etching process for Au tips and also test results from PCS measurements using them.

We present a transformative route to obtain mass-producible helical slow-wave structures for operation in beam−wave interaction devices at THz frequencies. The approach relies on guided self-assembly of conductive nanomembranes. Our work coordinates simulations of cold helices (i.e., helices with no electron beam) and hot helices (i.e., helices that interact with an electron beam). The theoretical study determines electromagnetic fields, current distributions, and beam− wave interaction in a parameter space that has not been explored before. These parameters include microscale diameter, pitch, tape width, and nanoscale surface finish. Parametric simulations show that beam−wave interaction devices based on selfassembled and electroplated helices will potentially provide gain-bandwidth products higher than 2 dBTHz at 1 THz. Informed by the simulation results, we fabricate prototype helices for operation as slow-wave structures at THz frequencies, using metal nanomembranes. Single and intertwined double helices, as well as helices with one or two chiralities, are obtained by selfassembly of stressed metal bilayers. The nanomembrane stiffness and built-in stress control the diameter of the helices. The inplane geometry of the nanomembrane determines the pitch, the chirality, and the formation of single vs intertwined double helices.

We present results from point-contact spectroscopy of the antiferromagnetic heavy-fermion superconductor UPd 2 Al 3 : conductance spectra are taken from single crystals with two major surface orientations as a function of temperature and magnetic field, and analyzed using a theory of co-tunneling into an Anderson lattice. Spectroscopic signatures are clearly identified including the distinct asymmetric double-peak structure arising from the opening of a hybridization gap when a coherent heavy Fermi liquid is formed. Both the hybridization gap, found to be 7.2 ± 0.3 meV at 4 K, and the conductance enhancement above a flat background decrease upon increasing temperature. While the hybridization gap is extrapolated to remain finite up to ~28 K, close to the temperature around which the magnetic susceptibility displays a broad peak, the conductance enhancement vanishes at ~18 K, slightly above the antiferromagnetic transition temperature (T N  14 K). This rapid decrease of the conductance enhancement is understood as a consequence of the junction drifting away from the ballistic regime due to increased scattering off magnons associated with the localized U 5f electrons. This shows that while the hybridization gap opening is not directly associated with the antiferromagnetic ordering, its visibility in the conductance is greatly affected by the temperature-dependent magnetic excitations. Our findings are not only consistent with the 5f dual-nature picture in the literature but also shed new light on the interplay between the itinerant and localized electrons in UPd 2 Al 3 .

We investigate the interaction between an electron beam and a THz guided electromagnetic wave in a helical slow-wave structure formed by self-assembly of a conductive ribbon. We have previously shown the controlled fabrication of this slow-wave structure and its potential to form the basis for widely deployable millimeter-through-THz traveling-wave tube amplifiers. The process allows the fabrication of helical slow-wave structures with single and double chirality. Here, we use three-dimensional simulations to perform a comparative analysis of beam–wave interaction in self-assembled gold helices with single and double chirality. First, the structures are modeled without the electron beam (cold helices) to calculate the distribution of the electric field generated by the high-frequency wave. We perform simulations of cold helices by using Computer Simulation Technology Microwave Studio. Second, we evaluate the interaction between an electron beam and the THz travelingwave by using a particle in cell simulator in Computer Simulation Technology Particle Studio. Simulation studies show that a switch in chirality in the middle of self-assembled helices generates a reflected wave that boosts beam–wave interaction. We demonstrate that this efficient energy exchange will potentially provide high gain in THz traveling-wave tube amplifiers based on self-assembled helices.

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