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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics

AC Josephson Effect in Point-Contacts of Ba-Y-Cu-O Ceramics

Tsutomu Yamashita, Akira Kawakami, Takaharu Nishihara, Yoshihiko Hirotsu, Masasuke Takata

Published May 1, 1987• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Clear Shapiro-steps were observed in I-V curves of point-contact Josephson junctions fabricated by BaYCuO ceramics. The observed voltage step is just equal to applied frequency times (h/2e), where h and e are, respectively, the Planck constant and electron charge.
DOI
10.1143/jjap.26.l635

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Microwave and millimeterwave dependences of ac Josephson effect were investigated in YBaCuO ceramic superconductors. We observed very clear constant-voltage steps (Shapiro steps) on the current-voltage curve of YBaCuO/Nb junctions at signals of 14.1,25.5 and 35.0 GHz. The observed step voltages were frequency dependent in accordance with the (h/2e)f rule. This strongly suggests that pair-electrons serve as the superconducting particle even in ceramic materials. In addition, the ac Josephson effect was also observed in point-contact ErBaCuO ceramics containing a magnetic element Er.
The ac Josephson effects in Nb point contacts were measured using optically pumped sub-millimeter-wave laser. Laser-induced constant voltage steps (Shapiro steps) were observed on the dc I–V curves of the hysteretic junction as well as non-hysteretic junctions. We found that the height of the fundamental step normalized to the critical current at no irradiation in hysteretic junctions was considerably larger than that previously reported. The enhancement of the step observed can be explained by taking the effect of the shunt capacitance into consideration.
Electrical quantum metrology using superconducting circuits relies on phase synchronization effects of Josephson oscillations with ac signals, resulting in equidistant voltage steps and forming the basis of today’s voltage standards. Because charge and phase are conjugate variables, the dual effect of equidistant current steps should also exist and was indeed predicted theoretically. It relies on so-called Bloch oscillations, which are oscillations of voltage occurring when a current-biased Josephson junction is embedded in an environment with characteristic impedance larger than the superconducting resistance quantum h/4e^2. In addition, Josephson junctions of lateral size on the order of tens of nm are necessary, such that their Josephson and charging energy are approximately equal. Synchronizing such Bloch-oscillations with an ac signal completes the duality with Shapiro steps, and results in the occurrence of steps in IV-measurements at I=2ef with e being the elementary charge, and f the frequency of the external ac signal. To emphasize the duality with Shapiro (voltage) steps, such current steps are called dual-Shapiro steps. Together with the established standards for voltage and resistance, a new standard for current based on dual-Shapiro steps would relate the ampere, volt and ohm through fundamental constants and frequency. If successfully realized with metrological precision this would close the quantum metrological triangle and might even enable the combination of all three electric quantum relations in one single device. Here we show our efforts towards the realization of quantized currents with metrological applicability. Based on advances in fabrication technology and measurement capabilities, we demonstrate quantized current steps up to I≈2 nA by synchronizing Bloch oscillations with external ac signals up to 6 GHz [1,2]. In addition, we demonstrate a pulsed driving scheme resulting in an asymmetric pattern of dual-Shapiro steps featuring increased differential resistance [2]. Finally, we discuss the effects limiting the precision of our quantized current steps and present our efforts for tackling them. [1] F. Kaap et al., “Synchronization of Bloch Oscillations in a Strongly Coupled Pair of Small Josephson Junctions: Evidence for a Shapiro-like Current Step,“ Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 027001, 2024. [2] F. Kaap et al., “Demonstration of dual Shapiro steps in small Josephson junctions,“ Nature Communications 15, 8726, 2024.
With a thin gold layer, we fabricated mesa-like shunted intrinsic Josephson junction stacks on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x single crystals. Instead of the multibranch structure and large voltage jumps often observed in conventional intrinsic junctions, current–voltage characteristics typical of resistively shunted junctions were obtained. Individual Shapiro steps were clearly visible with irradiation at frequencies from a few to 20 GHz. The experiments demonstrated not only the ac Josephson effects directly but also the possibility of employing intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-frequency applications.