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IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement

Pulse-Driven Josephson Junction Arrays for High-Precision AC-Voltage Synthesis of Unipolar and Bipolar Waveforms

M. Schubert, G. Wende, T. May, Uwe Huebner, H.‐G. Meyer, Oleg A. Chevtchenko, Helko E. van den Brom, Ernest Houtzager

Published Mar 16, 2007• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The paper is about development of the lumped Josephson junction arrays (JJAs) for the generation of accurate quantum-based ac voltages. By using semiconductor pattern generators, it was possible to synthesize unipolar and bipolar waveforms with amplitudes of almost 10 mV and frequencies of up to 122 kHz. Higher harmonics and other unwanted noise signals were suppressed by -90 dBc. Because of the unique layout of our JJA, it was possible to connect the circuit directly to the ground, thereby eliminating common-mode signals

DOI
10.1109/tim.2007.891063

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The paper is about development of the lumped Josephson junction arrays (JJAs) for the generation of accurate quantum-based ac voltages. By using semiconductor pattern generators, it was possible to synthesize unipolar and bipolar waveforms with amplitudes of almost 10 mV and frequencies of up to 122 kHz. Higher harmonics and other unwanted noise signals were suppressed by -90 dBc. Because of the unique layout of our JJA, it was possible to connect the circuit directly to the ground, thereby eliminating common-mode signals
An array of Josephson junctions (JJs) was driven with photonically generated current pulses to synthesize a high-fidelity 1 kHz bipolar voltage waveform with a quantum-based amplitude that can be directly related to fundamental constants. A photodiode capable of producing high average photocurrent was used to generate large-amplitude current pulses that were ac-coupled to a JJ array. The resulting bipolar current pulses have enabled the first demonstration of quantum-based bipolar waveform synthesis with an optical drive. We measured the quantum locking range with respect to several operating parameters, including 1.2 mA with respect to a dc bias current applied to the array, confirming the robust synthesis of bipolar waveforms.
Central to quantum-based arbitrary waveform synthesizers is a Josephson junction array driven by short pulses. Its linear dimensions should be small compared to the line wavelength in order to generate an ac voltage with quantum accuracy. Therefore, we use coplanar strip transmission lines to integrate a large number of cross-type SNS Josephson junctions into multiple parallel arrays. First measurements show that a circuit with 1,760 junctions exhibits Shapiro steps over a large frequency range. By using pulse driving the chip generates unipolar voltages up to 6.4 mV at a clock frequency of 3.5 GHz, the maximum frequency of the available pulse pattern generator.
We present the combination of two Josephson waveform synthesizers to generate waveforms with low harmonic distortion [below$-$110 dBc (carrier)] and amplitudes above the 1-V level. Fast and flexible code programming enables pulse-driven Josephson arrays to synthesize arbitrary waveforms. We have used the pulse-driven system to cancel the harmonic content from the binary array that can reach 1-V amplitudes. The quantum nature of the Josephson synthesizer ensures very stable amplitudes (better than6×10−86 \times 10^{-8}6×10−8) and no frequency drift. This performance, together with the ability to synthesize arbitrary waveforms, can make this synthesizer a relevant tool for characterizing precision electronics and ac voltage metrology.
A quantum-accurate waveform with an rms output amplitude of 1 V has been synthesized for the first time. This fourfold increase in voltage over previous systems was achieved through developments and improvements in bias electronics, pulse-bias techniques, Josephson junction array circuit fabrication, and packaging. A recently described ac-coupled bipolar pulse-bias technique was used to bias a superconducting integrated circuit with 25 600 junctions, which are equally divided into four series-connected arrays, into the second quantum state. We describe these advancements and present the measured 1 V spectra for 2 Hz and 10 Hz sine waves that remained quantized over a 0.4 mA current range. We also demonstrate a 2 kHz sine wave produced with another bias technique that requires no compensation current and remains quantized at an rms voltage of 128 mV over a 1 mA current range. Increasing the clock frequency to 19 GHz also allowed us to achieve a maximum rms output voltage for a single array of 330 mV.
We have developed a quantum voltage noise source (QVNS) based on pulse-driven Josephson arrays and optimized its waveform synthesis for use with Johnson noise thermometry (JNT). The QVNS synthesizes multitone waveforms with equal amplitude harmonic tones and random relative phases in order to characterize the amplitude-frequency response of the analog and digital electronics of the JNT system. We describe the QVNS circuit design and operation, including the lumped-array Josephson-junction circuit and the unipolar bias technique. In particular, we describe the primary design considerations that determine the voltage accuracy of the harmonic tones.