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Applied Physics Letters

Noise measurements in superconducting proximity bridges

S. K. Decker, James E. Mercereau

Published Oct 15, 1975• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Experiments and analsis have been done to show that the low-frequency noise voltage developed across a current-biased proximity-coupled superconducting bridge is well described by existing theories of electron tunneling. There is also some evidence that, on a two-fluid model, normal and supercurrent noise may be correlated. The temperature sensitivity of these bridges is calculated from the measured noise spectrum and is found to compare favorably with existing bolometric techniques.

DOI
10.1063/1.88530

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Experiments and analsis have been done to show that the low-frequency noise voltage developed across a current-biased proximity-coupled superconducting bridge is well described by existing theories of electron tunneling. There is also some evidence that, on a two-fluid model, normal and supercurrent noise may be correlated. The temperature sensitivity of these bridges is calculated from the measured noise spectrum and is found to compare favorably with existing bolometric techniques.
Electron-beam lithography has been used to produce ultra low noise Nb dc SQUIDs (Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices) with Josephson elements consisting of either small area tunnel junctions or very narrow variable thickness bridges (nanobridges). Detailed voltage noise and transfer function measurements have been made as a function of temperature and flux and current bias. These measurements allow a computation of the intrinsic energy resolution ε vs bias parameters as well as comparison with models of intrinsic SQUID noise. The best ε obtained was of order Planck's constant h. Moreover, the detailed characteristics of the SQUID voltage noise are in agreement with a small signal analysis that depends only on the current noise in each of the Josephson elements and measurable parameters.
Experimental investigations on the proximity effect bridge (a Josephson device) at zero voltage and at finite voltages in the µV range are reported. The phase-super current relation at zero voltage was measured using an asymmetric superconducting quantum interferormeter circuit. The data are in agreement with the Josephson supercurrent-phase relation I_S=I_C sinδ with deviation less than 5% of the critical current I_c. The supercurrent density in the measured bridges reached as high as 50-100 µA/µm^2. Using microcircuitry techniques, proximity effect bridges were strongly coupled to superconducting microstrip resonators. Selfinduced steps in the I-V characteristics of bridges coupled to resonators were observed in the GHz region at voltages (frequencies) corresponding to the expected modes of the resonators. Two types of steps were seen depending on whether the resonator impedance on resonance was much higher or much smaller than the bridge resistance. A simple two fluid model of the bridge-resonator circuit was developed and the size and shape of self-induced steps were calculated for a generalized Josephson oscillator relation I_S = I_c(l-q + q sin∫ 2e/hV dt) where q = 1 corresponds to the original Josephson relation and q = 1/2 represents the phase slip regime. At low critical currents (I_c < 10 µA) and low voltages (V < 3µV) the size and shape of experimentally observed self-induced steps agree with the q = 1 model. At higher voltages and/or critical currents the step size increasingly deviates from the q = 1 model towards q = 1/2. These observations are interpreted to indicate a progressive reduction of the amplitude of the oscillating Josephson supercurrent in proximity effect bridges from I_c towards I_c /2 as the critical current and/or voltage are increased.
Calibrated measurements of both the real and imaginary parts of the microwave impedance of proximity coupled superconducting weak links have been made. The measurements were compared with analytic calculations based on several different models for the supercurrent Is and quasiparticle current. For dc bias currents I1 less than the critical current Ic, the experimental results are consistent with the Josephson relation Is=Ic sinφ, where φ is the quantum phase angle. However, for I1≳Ic, the Fourier component of Is at the Josephson frequency is found to be significantly less (∼0.65±0.1) than would be predicted from Is=Ic sinφ, and consistent with Tinkham’s analysis of a phase slip process. The experimental results indicate that the phase-dependent part of the quasiparticle current, if it exists at all, is no more than 10% of the total quasiparticle current. These results do not necessarily contradict previous measurements made on true tunnel junctions because of the fundamental differences between the two types of devices.
Lateral superconductor/graphene structures can be used to make Josephson junctions with low contact resistances and gate-tuneable critical currents. These junctions have the potential to provide new functionality for superconducting devices. For most devices, e.g. transmon qubits and SQUID sensors, it is important to quantify the intrinsic noise of the junctions. The voltage noise of low resistance junctions is typically below the noise floor of room temperature amplifiers. By cross-correlating the signals from two parallel amplifiers, we can detect signals down to 100 pV/√Hz, well below the noise floor of each amplifier. Using this technique, we characterise the voltage noise of a NbTi DC SQUID with graphene junctions in a frequency range from Hz to kHz. Combined with measurements of the SQUID's gain, we map its sensitivity across a range of operating conditions and find that the best-case sensitivity of the device is similar to traditional low temperature SQUIDs with oxide tunnel junctions. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement No 785219.
In this work four different mesoscopic superconducting devices have been experimentally studied: an ammeter based on a hysteretic Josephson junction switching from the superconducting state to the normal state, a conventional Cooper pair pump (CPP) based on two superconducting islands separated by tunnel junctions, a novel flux assisted Cooper pair pump and a thermometer based on a tunnel junction between a superconductor and a normal metal. These devices make use of phenomena related to superconductivity and are also benefiting from some properties of small structures, e.g., of quantum mechanical tunneling and of transport of single electrons. The present research focused on investigating performance limitations of these devices and the aim was to improve their performance. A hysteretic Josephson junction switching can be used as a sensitive current threshold detector. For many purposes, a smaller critical current Ic of the detecting junction would yield a higher current sensitivity. It was found in this Thesis that the main limitation of the ammeter is that with increasing sensitivity the negative effects due to dissipation start to dominate. In this Thesis the Josephson junction was also demonstrated as a shot-noise detector, and it was concluded that this kind of a device could probably be made into an absolute on-chip detector of Fano-factors and noise in general. A charge pump is a device which can periodically transfer a discrete amount of charge Q through an electrical circuit. The measured double island CPP introduced a frequency dependent current with a value close to the expected one at low pumping frequencies. The drawback in the measurements was that the direction of the pumped current was set by the bias voltage. The results of the measurement on flux assisted pumping were indeed very promising and the studied device was able to produce sufficiently high pumped currents of around 0.1 nA with reasonable accuracy. Thermometer based on NIS (Normal metal - Insulator - Superconductor) tunnel junctions is a very promising temperature sensor for bolometric radiation sensor applications. This work showed that it can be used as a sensitive thermometer up to MHz frequencies range and that its response time is limited by the electron-phonon scattering rate.
In quantum technology, several aspects of superconductivity such as proximity effect have studied to develop a wide range of attractive applications at sub-kelvin temperatures. A new type of interferometer based on the proximity effect, taking place around transparent interfaces between normal- and superconducting metals, the Superconducting Quantum Interference Proximity Transistor (SQUIPT), relies on the phase dependence of the density of states in the proximized weak link. The SQUIPT devices offer the possibility to realize sensitive low-dissipation magnetometers compared to conventional DC SQUIDs. In this thesis, we investigate the development of the sensitive SQUIPT magnetometers. The first part of the thesis covers the characterization of non-hysteretic SQUIPTs with enhanced responsivity. In these structures, we demonstrate magnetic flux modulation of the device characteristics displaying no hysteresis at low temperatures by simply increasing the Josephson inductance of the weak link compared to self-inductance of the superconducting loop in the device. As a consequence, improvement in magnetic field responsivity is achievable. We then turn to the implementation of SQUIPT devices based on different fabrication methods and superconductor materials for improving the device performance. In this aspect, we fabricate and characterize niobium-based SNS devices utilizing two separate lithography and deposition steps with strong Ar ion cleaning in between. We further investigate a prototype hybrid SQUIPT device based on an Nb-Cu-Nb SNS junction with a conventional Al probe in tunnel junction. In the third part of the thesis, we present the flux noise characterization of a SQUIPT device using simultaneous measurement of DC transport properties and shot noise. To probe the noise, we use a cryogenic amplifier operating at frequencies in the range of a few MHz. We adapt this technique for flux noise measurements in SQUIPTs, adaptable also to low-temperature shot noise measurements of other nonlinear devices with high impedance. In order to investigate flux noise of SQUIPTs, we develop a model allowing one to optimize the figures of merit of the magnetometers such as the noise-equivalent flux.