Current interests

Carol Webster's current research aims to develop a quantum standard for electrical current based on the phenomenon of quantum phase-slip, which occurs in superconducting nanoscale circuit elements, such as a superconducting nanowire or a chain of Josephson junctions.

Biography

Carol read physics at Oxford University, receiving her MPhys degree in 1999 and her DPhil degree in 2003. During her DPhil, she used neutron scattering to study the magnetic and vibrational properties of rare-earth oxides.

In 2002, she joined the Quantum Detection group at NPL, working initially on quantum noise thermometry and single photon detection using nanoscale SQUIDs.

Subsequently, she worked on the detection of macroscopic quantum tunnelling in single molecule magnets and superconducting phase-qubits.

Contact details

Email: carol.webster@npl.co.uk
Tel: +44 20 8943 6289

Publications

• Localised 4ƒ States and Dynamic Jahn-Teller Effect in PrO₂
  A.T. Boothroyd, C.H. Gardiner, S.J.S. Lister, P. Santini, B.D. Rainford, L.D. Noailles, D.B. Currie, R.S. Eccleston and R.I. Bewley
  Physical Review Letters, 86, 2082-2085 (2001)
• Dispersive Magnetic Excitations in Non-Superconducting PrBa₂Cu₃O_6+x (χ ≈ 0.93)
  C.H. Gardiner, S.J.S. Lister, A.T. Boothroyd, N.H. Andersen, A.A. Zhokhov, A. Stunault and A. Hiess
  Applied Physics A, 74, S898-S900 (2002)
• An Investigation of the Magnetic Structure of PrO₂
  C.H. Gardiner, A.T. Boothroyd, S.J.S. Lister, M.J. McKelvy, S. Hull and B.H. Larsen
  Applied Physics A, 74, S1773-S1775 (2002)
• Inductive superconducting transition-edge detector for single-photon and macro-molecule detection
  L. Hao, J.C. Gallop, C. Gardiner, P. Josephs-Franks, J.C. Macfarlane, S.K.H. Lam and C. Foley
  Superconductor Science and Technology, 16, 1479-1482 (2003)
• A μ⁺SR study of the rare earth antiferromagnet PrO₂
  T. Lancaster, S.J. Blundell, F.L. Pratt, C.H. Gardiner, W. Hayes and A.T. Boothroyd
  Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 15, 8407-8415 (2003)
• Degenerate Ground State and Anomalous Flux Hysteresis in an YBa₂Cu₃O₇ Grain Boundary r.f. SQUID
  C.H. Gardiner, R.A.M. Lee, J.C. Gallop, A.Ya. Tzalenchuk, J.C. Macfarlane and L. Hao
  Superconductor Science and Technology 17, S234-S240 (2004)
• Phonon Dispersion Relations in PrBa₂Cu₃O_6+x (χ ≈ 0.2)
  C.H. Gardiner, A.T. Boothroyd, B.H. Larsen, W. Reichardt, A.A. Zhokhov, N.H. Andersen, S.J.S. Lister and A.R. Wildes,
  Physical Review B, 69, 092302 (2004)
• Cooperative Jahn-Teller Distortion in PrO₂
  C.H. Gardiner, A.T. Boothroyd, P. Pattison, M.J. McKelvy, G.J. McIntyre and S.J.S. Lister
  Physical Review B, 70, 024415 (2004)
• Field-Induced Magnetic and Structural Domain Alignment in PrO₂
  C.H. Gardiner, A.T. Boothroyd, M.J. McKelvy, G.J. McIntyre and K. Prokeš
  Physical Review B, 70, 024416 (2004)
• Metrological Challenges of Nanomagnetism
  O. Kazakova, C.H. Webster, and A.Ya. Tzalenchuk
  NPL Report DEM-TQD-002 (2005)
• Applications of Quantum Entanglement to Metrology
  S.N. Lea, C.H. Webster, A.G. Sinclair and A.Ya. Tzalenchuk
  NPL Report DEM-TQD-005 (2005)
• The Future of Quantum Roulette Noise Thermometry
  C.H. Webster
  NPL Report DEM-TQD-007 (2006)
• Circuit QED with a flux qubit strongly coupled to a coplanar transmission line resonator
  T. Lindström C.H. Webster, J.E. Healey, M.S. Colclough, C.M. Muirhead and A.Ya. Tzalenchuk
  Superconductor Science and Technology, 20, 814-821 (2007)
• Influence of thermal coupling on spin avalanches in Mn₁₂-acetate
  C.H. Webster, O. Kazakova, J.C. Gallop, P.W. Josephs-Franks, A. Hernández-Mínguez and A.Ya. Tzalenchuk
  Physical Review B, 76, 012403 (2007)
• Influence of static Jahn-Teller distortion on the magnetic excitation spectrum of PrO₂: A synchrotron x-ray and neutron inelastic scattering study
  C.H. Webster, L.M. Helme, A.T. Boothroyd, D.F. McMorrow, S.B. Wilkins, C. Detlefs, B. Detlefs, R.I. Bewley and M.J. McKelvy
  Physical Review B, 76, 134419 (2007)
• Numerical simulations of a flux qubit coupled to a high quality resonator
  T. Lindström C.H. Webster, J.E. Healey, M.S. Colclough, C.M. Muirhead and A.Ya. Tzalenchuk
  Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 97, 012319 (2008)

Non-refereed papers

• A quantum current standard based on phase slip
  C.H. Webster, S.P. Giblin, D. Cox, T.J.B.M. Janssen and A.B. Zorin
  Proceedings of CPEM 2008, 629 (2008)