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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics

Nb-Oxide-Pb Tunnel Junctions Fabricated Using CF4 Cleaning Process. (III) Preparation of Planar dc SQUID

Yujiro Katoh, H. Asano, K. Tanabe, Osamu Michikami

Published Oct 1, 1987• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper discusses the preparation of thin-film planar dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Nb-oxide-Pb tunnel junctions fabricated using CF4 cleaning process (CFCP) and Pd thin-film shunt resistor were employed. It was demonstrated that the two junctions in a SQUID have symmetrical and wellcontrolled junction parameters. Pd adhesion with oxidized Si could be improved by ultrathin Zr underlayers. The Pd films allowed good controt of the sheet resistance. The SQUIDs are very reliable in regard to room-temperature storage and thermal cycling.

DOI
10.1143/jjap.26.1657

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Applied Physics Letters•Aug 1, 1985•4 citations
This paper discusses the preparation of thin-film planar dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Nb-oxide-Pb tunnel junctions fabricated using CF4 cleaning process (CFCP) and Pd thin-film shunt resistor were employed. It was demonstrated that the two junctions in a SQUID have symmetrical and wellcontrolled junction parameters. Pd adhesion with oxidized Si could be improved by ultrathin Zr underlayers. The Pd films allowed good controt of the sheet resistance. The SQUIDs are very reliable in regard to room-temperature storage and thermal cycling.
Tunnel-junction dc SQUIDs are being fabricated from Nb films using electron-beam lithography to define linewidths as small as 0.5 μm. The barriers in the Nb-NbOx-Nb junctions are grown in an oxygen plasma discharge, and the Pd2Si resistive shunts are formed by annealing Pd on the Si substrates. These devices have excellent storage and recycling properties. At a measurement frequency of 40 kHz, a SQUID with an inductance of about 1 nH, a critical current of about 4 μA, and a parallel shunt resistance of about 15 Ω had an intrinsic energy resolution of 2.5×10−32 J Hz−1 at 4.2 K and 1.1×10−32 J Hz−1 at 1.6 K, in good agreement with a model of the dc SQUID.
We have developed a new integration method for Josephson tunnel junctions based on high Tc superconducting compound materials such as NbN. In this method, a sputtered ZnO film has been employed as a resist mask which can be used in high substrate temperatures during the film deposition. It has been found that fine patterns of the refractory superconducting film can be obtained by this method and the patterning processes have no interference with other integration processes. We have applied this method to patterning base electrode of NbN and formed high quality NbN-oxide-Pb Josephson tunnel junctions by using an rf plasma oxidation. The fabricated junctions have been found to have a relatively large gap ( ∼ 4.0 mV ) and low current leak in the subgap region, and to be quite stable for thermal cyclings and storage. We have also fabricated quantum interference memory devices by integrating these junctions and the operation has been successfully demonstrated.
We have fabricated superconducting quantum interference devices (dc SQUID’s) from thin films of the superconducting oxide YBa2Cu3Oy. The devices were made by first lithographically patterning an ion implant mask containing a 40 by 40 μm loop and two 17-μm-wide weak links over a ∼1-μm-thick oxide film. Ion implantation was then used to destroy the superconductivity in the film surrounding the device without actually removing material, resulting in a completely planar structure for the SQUID’s. The SQUID’s were operated in the temperature range from 4.2 to 68 K. The superconducting flux quantum was measured to be h/2e in these materials.
A procedure is described for fabricating thin film Nb/Nb oxide/Pb-alloy Josephson tunnel junctions that satisfies the principal requirements for integrated circuit design and fabrication. A deposited Nb film, evaporated from an e-gun heated source, was patterned by chemical etching to form a base electrode. A junction was completed by plasma etching and plasma oxidizing the Nb junction area to form a tunnel barrier and by depositing a Pb alloy counterelectrode. Josephson tunnel junctions with Nb/Nb oxide/Pb-Au-In structures were prepared with low excess subgap currents in the current-voltage (I-V) curve and with reproducible and stable I-V characteristics. Variations in junction current density from run-run were ± 15%. Seven 3-junction interferomeeters out of a population of 50,000 were shorted (99.99% yield) for causes not immediately attributable to photoresist-related defects. No changes in Josephson current were detected after thermal cycling 17,000 interferometers 1,800 × between room temperature and 4.2°K, after storing them for 2 years at 5°C, or after annealing 5,000 interferometers for 4.5 hours at 70°C.
The design, fabrication, and noise properties of an ultra-low-noise tunnel junction dc SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) are presented. The two resistively shunted Pb-alloy tunnel junctions are each 3.6 μm diam. The SQUID has an inductance L of ≈11 pH, a critical current per junction, I0 of ≈100 μA, and a resistance per shunt R of ≈2 Ω. At 2.3 K, eI0R≈kBT, and simple theory predicts that the minimum intrinsic energy sensitivity should be ≈2h. The actual minimum value of the measured high-frequency (70 kHz) flux noise at 4.2 K is φn=1.3×10−7φ0 Hz−1/2. This corresponds to an intrinsic energy sensitivity, φ2n/2L, of 3.2×10−33 J Hz−1 or 5h. Lowering the bath temperature to 1.8 K gave no improvement in performance.
A thin-film dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) consisting of quasiparticle-injected superconducting weak links was fabricated and successfully operated. This SQUID was made on a silicon substrate and it consists of a ∼100-nm-thick lead alloy with two injector junctions. The characteristics of this dc SQUID are controllable by varying the injecting rate of quasiparticles; therefore, it can be operated at arbitrary temperatures below the transition temperature of the superconducting material.