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arXiv:1401.6990 · Applied Physics Letters

Ultra low noise YBa2Cu3O7−δ nano superconducting quantum interference devices implementing nanowires

Riccardo Arpaia, M. Arzeo, Shahid Nawaz, Sophie Charpentier, Floriana Lombardi, Thilo Bauch

Published Feb 17, 2014• 62 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present results on ultra low noise YBa2Cu3O7–δ (YBCO) nano Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (nanoSQUIDs). To realize such devices, we implemented high quality YBCO nanowires, working as weak links between two electrodes. We observe critical current modulation as a function of an externally applied magnetic field in the full temperature range below the transition temperature TC. The white flux noise below 1μΦ0/Hz at T=8 K makes our nanoSQUIDs very attractive for the detection of small spin systems.

DOI
10.1063/1.4866277

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We present results on ultra low noise YBa2Cu3O7–δ (YBCO) nano Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (nanoSQUIDs). To realize such devices, we implemented high quality YBCO nanowires, working as weak links between two electrodes. We observe critical current modulation as a function of an externally applied magnetic field in the full temperature range below the transition temperature TC. The white flux noise below 1μΦ0/Hz at T=8 K makes our nanoSQUIDs very attractive for the detection of small spin systems.
We describe aluminum-niobium-tungsten trilayer Nano-Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (NanoSQUIDs) that can be read out continuously down, in temperature, to at least 230 mK. They show voltage oscillations up to at least 20 mT in field. A voltage modulation of 500 μV, voltage sensitivity of 2 mV/Φ0, and white noise floor better than 5×10−5 Φ0/Hz have been obtained. Flux noise places them between conventional low impedance SQUIDs and standard nanoSQUIDs. High sensitivity and ease of implementation make this new kind of nanoSQUID attractive for magnetic detection schemes on the nanoscale and low temperature scanning SQUID microscopy.
We have fabricated a YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin-film dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with lithographically defined deep-submicron weak links. At 77 K the voltage response to dc flux is sinusoidal and nonhysteretic, with maximum peak-to-peak amplitude of 5 μV. The maximum response is 8 μV at 70 K, where 2LI0/Φ0≊1. At lower temperatures, the maximum response oscillates in the range 4–6 μV. Random telegraph noise was observed near 30–40 K. Well-behaved Shapiro steps were observable at all measured temperatures below Tc.
We report on nanopatterned YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) direct current superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) based on grain boundary Josephson junctions. The nanoSQUIDs are fabricated by epitaxial growth of 120 nm-thick films of the high-transition temperature cuprate superconductor YBCO via pulsed laser deposition on MgO bicrystal substrates with 24° misorientation angle, followed by sputtering of dAu = 65 nm thick Au. Nanopatterning is performed by Ga focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The SQUID performance is comparable to devices on SrTiO3 (STO), as demonstrated by electric transport and noise measurements at 4.2 K. MgO has orders of magnitude smaller dielectric permittivity than STO; i.e., one may avoid Au as a resistively shunting layer to reduce the intrinsic thermal flux noise of the nanoSQUIDs. However, we find that the Au layer is important for avoiding degradation during FIB milling. Hence, we compare devices with different dAu produced by thinning the Au layer via Ar ion milling after FIB patterning. We find that the reduction of dAu yields an increase in junction resistance, however at the expense of a reduction of the critical current and increase in SQUID inductance. This results in an estimated thermal flux noise that is almost independent of dAu. However, for two devices on MgO with 65 nm-thick Au, we find an order of magnitude lower low-frequency excess noise as compared to nanoSQUIDs on STO or those on MgO with reduced dAu. For one of those devices we obtain with bias-reversal readout ultra-low flux noise of ∼175 nΦ0 Hz-1/2 down to ∼10 Hz.
We investigate electric transport and noise properties of microstrip-type submicron direct current superconducting quantum interference devices (dc SQUIDs) based on Nb thin films and overdamped Josephson junctions with a HfTi barrier. The SQUIDs were designed for optimal spin sensitivity Sμ1/2 upon operation in intermediate magnetic fields B (tens of mT), applied perpendicular to the substrate plane. Our, so far, best SQUID can be continuously operated in fields up to B≈±50 mT with rms flux noise SΦ,w1/2≤250 nΦ0/Hz1/2 in the white noise regime and spin sensitivity Sμ1/2≤29 μB/Hz1/2. Furthermore, we demonstrate operation in B = 0.5 T with high sensitivity in flux SΦ,w1/2≈680 nΦ0/Hz1/2 and in electron spin Sμ1/2≈79 μB/Hz1/2. We discuss strategies to further improve the nanoSQUID performance.
Abstract The reliable fabrication of high-sensitivity superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) with high critical transition temperature (high- T c ) is crucial for many practical applications such as weak magnetic sensing. In this work, we report the first realization of the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ (YBCO) radio frequency SQUIDs (rf SQUIDs) based on focused helium ion beam (FHIB) technique. A series of YBCO rf SQUIDs with high consistency were fabricated using a 30 keV FHIB with different helium ion (He + ) dose. The dose-dependent characteristics of the fabricated devices were systematically investigated at a temperature of 77 K. The experimental results verify that the variation in He + dose can effectively modulate the junction parameters and thereby the device noise performance. A non-monotonic white noise trend with increasing He + dose was observed, which could be primarily attributed to the transition of operational working regime of the fabricated rf SQUIDs. Based upon the dose optimization, a flux noise of 58 μ Φ 0 / H z 1 / 2 , corresponding to a field sensitivity of 185 f T / H z 1 / 2 , was achieved with our current device configuration. Approaches to further optimize the overall device performance are also discussed. Our work demonstrates FHIB-based high- T c SQUIDs with high junction parameter consistency a promising candidate for the implementation of multi-channel weak magnetic field detection systems and might hopefully serve as a platform for validating the theoretical models of high- T c SQUIDs.
We have developed a technique which permits high-yield fabrication of microbridges and low noise YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) in epitaxial thin films. These SQUIDs operate over a wide temperature range extending from 4 K to close to the superconducting transition temperature. Measurements of an rf SQUID operating at 77 K give a peak-to-peak flux sensitivity of 36 μV/Φ0 and a flux noise at 10 Hz of 1.5× 10−4 Φ0/√Hz. Device yields over 80% have been obtained.