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Applied Physics Letters

Microwave-induced constant-voltage steps at one volt from a series array of Josephson junctions

J. Niemeyer, Johann Heyen Hinken, Richard L. Kautz

Published Aug 15, 1984• 134 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is demonstrated that a series array of 1474 Josephson junctions can produce quantized voltages up to 1.2 V when driven by microwaves at 90 GHz in the absence of a dc bias. This result brings closer the possibility of a practical Josephson voltage standard at the 1-V level.
DOI
10.1063/1.95222

Related papers

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Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements•Jun 1, 2008•2 citations
Josephson voltage standards utilize microwave-induced constant voltage steps occurring due to the ac Josephson effect. Existing standards can be considerably simplified and their accuracy improved by using a large number of series-connected Josephson tunnel junctions which are operated in the zero current step mode. For this purpose superconducting millimeter wave integrated circuits have been designed, fabricated, and tested. The circuits consist of a broadband taper between the rectangular waveguide and the planar structure, the Josephson junction series, a well-matched load, and dc pads. Circuits with various numbers of junctions have been fabricated by photo-lithographic techniques and tested at 4.2 K in liquid helium. The version with 1474 junctions produced voltages up to 1.2 V when operated at 90 GHz.
High precision dc voltage standards utilize microwave induced constant voltage steps occurring due to the ac Josephson effect. Existing standards can be considerably simplified and improved by using a large number of series-connected Josephson tunnel junctions which are operated in the zero current step mode. For this purpose superconducting millimeter wave integrated circuits (MMICs) have been designed, fabricated and tested. The circuits consist of a broadband taper between the waveguide and antipodal fin line, a transition to microstrip, the Josephson junction series, a well-matched load, and dc pads. Circuits with various numbers of junctions have been fabricated by photolithographic techniques and tested at 4.2 K in liquid helium. The version with 1474 junctions produced voltages up to 1.2 V when operated at 90 GHz.
Voltage pulses with a determined amplitude and width might be the basis for high-precision ac voltage measurements in the future. The pulse width modulation technique makes possible the generation of arbitrary waveforms. In this paper, arrays of SINIS Josephson junctions were investigated which produce a 1 V voltage step under irradiation at a frequency of the order of 70 GHz. This step has an amplitude of 1 mA whereof a region of 0.3 mA overlaps with the critical current. This allows the generation of a 1 V voltage pulse by switching the microwave power at constant dc bias current. The results of this investigation will be presented and also the array parameters which are required for obtaining a relative uncertainty of 0.1 ppm in ac voltage measurements.
Series arrays of Nb–PdAu–Nb Josephson junctions were fabricated with characteristics ideally suited for application in programmable voltage standards and D/A converters with fundamental accuracy. Large arrays of junctions with applied microwave power showed constant voltage steps with current amplitudes as large as 7 mA. A novel coplanar waveguide design enabled uniform microwave power coupling to a five-segment array of 8192 junctions, so each segment had constant voltage steps over the same bias range. The 8192-junction device generated 1.1 mA steps at 186 mV with 11 GHz power and a maximum constant voltage step of 260 mV at 15.34 GHz.