Abstract:
There are disclosed a variety of apparatuses for varying the order parameter of a superconductor in order to generate frequency-swept phonons, these phonons being used to investigate the properties of a sample of material capable of coupling the phonons from the superconductor. In respective embodiments the order parameter, and hence the superconductive energy gap, of the superconductor is varied by a pulsed laser beam, a direct-current pulse, and R-F field pulse in a strip line and a magnetic field pulse from an electromagnet. Resonant acoustic absorptions of the sample are observed as the phonon frequency varies.