ABSTRACT
Inspired by the jamming in leaky systems that arises in many physiological and industrial settings, we study the propagation of clogs in a leaky microfluidic channel. By driving a colloidal suspension through such a channel with a fluid-permeable wall adjoining a gutter, we follow the formation and propagation of jams and show that they move at a steady speed, in contrast with jams in channels that have impermeable walls. Furthermore, by varying the ratio of the resistance from the leaky wall and that of the gutter, we show that it is possible to control the shape of the propagating jam, which is typically wedge shaped. We complement our experiments with numerical simulations, where we implement an Euler-Lagrangian framework for the simultaneous evolution of both immersed colloidal particles and the carrier fluid. Finally, we show that the particle ordering in the clog can be tuned by adjusting the geometry of the leaky wall. Altogether, the leaky channel serves both as a filter and a shunt with the potential for a range of uses.
ABSTRACT
Epitaxial semiconductor-superconductor hybrid materials are an excellent basis for studying mesoscopic and topological superconductivity, as the semiconductor inherits a hard superconducting gap while retaining tunable carrier density. Here, we investigate double-quantum-dot structures made from InAs nanowires with a patterned epitaxial Al two-facet shell that proximitizes two gate-defined segments along the nanowire. We follow the evolution of mesoscopic superconductivity and charging energy in this system as a function of magnetic field and voltage-tuned barriers. Interdot coupling is varied from strong to weak using side gates, and the ground state is varied between normal, superconducting and topological regimes by applying a magnetic field. We identify the topological transition by tracking the spacing between successive co-tunnelling peaks as a function of axial magnetic field and show that the individual dots host weakly hybridized Majorana modes.