Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Resonance-free low-pass filters for the AC Josephson voltage standard

M. Watanabe, Paul D. Dresselhaus, Samuel P. Benz

Published Mar 1, 2006• 44 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have designed and characterized superconducting integrated circuits for the ac Josephson voltage standard that demonstrate significantly improved performance. The typical circuit consists of an array of superconductor-normal metal-superconductor Josephson junctions, which are placed in a transmission line and biased with a broad-band (dc-to-15 GHz) pulse-drive waveform. Additional low-speed (dc and audio frequency) bias and output leads contain on-chip inductors that act as low-pass filters. The operating margins of the array were improved by adding resistive shunts across these inductors to damp their intrinsic resonances. These resonances had previously degraded the integrity of the broad-band signal driving the array. We present simulations and measurements of these improved circuits that demonstrate no resonances in the range of 0.1-20 GHz. Moreover, the operating margins of the ac Josephson voltage standard were improved.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2005.863533

Related papers

Precision Measurements of AC Josephson Voltage Standard Operating Margins

Charles J. Burroughs, Samuel P. Benz, Paul D. Dresselhaus +1 more

Recent advances in circuit design and fabrication of superconducting integrated circuits have enabled us to demonstrate an ac Josephson voltage standard (ACJVS) that generates both ac and dc waveforms up to 242-mV peak voltage. Using a Fast Fourier Transform spectrum analyzer and an ac-dc transfer standard, we characterize ACJVS operating margins by performing "flat-spot" measurements at the level of a part in 10/sup 6/ for all eight bias parameters. By verifying that every bias parameter has a "flat-spot" (i.e., a range of bias values over which the measured ACJVS output is precisely constant), we demonstrate that all Josephson junctions on the chip are operating properly.

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement•Mar 21, 2005•40 citations

Improved design of superconductor/normal conductor/superconductor Josephson junction series arrays for an ac Josephson voltage standard

Oliver Kieler, J. Kohlmann, Franz Müller

Superconductor/normal conductor/superconductor (SNS) Josephson junction series arrays are the subject of research for the realization of a Josephson arbitrary waveform synthesizer (JAWS) based on pulse-driven Josephson junctions. Lumped arrays of SNS Josephson junctions are investigated for this application at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The series arrays consisting of Nb/HfTi/Nb SNS junctions are embedded in the center line of a coplanar waveguide transmission line. To increase the ac output voltage, the Josephson junction series array is designed as a meander-like structure. A broadband response of the arrays is required for the complex pulse operation of the JAWS. The arrays are investigated by dc measurements and for test purposes under continuous microwave irradiation at different frequencies. Flat Shapiro steps were measured for meander-like series arrays with 21 parallel lines containing up to 10 752 junctions. A sine wave with a frequency of 2.5 kHz and a peak voltage of 214 mV Peak was synthesized under pulse mode operation.

Superconductor Science and Technology•Oct 18, 2007•28 citations

Flat-Spot Measurements for an Ac Josephson Voltage Standard

Charles J. Burroughs, Samuel P. Benz, Paul D. Dresselhaus +1 more

Recent advances in circuit design and fabrication of superconducting integrated circuits have enabled us to demonstrate for the first time an ac Josephson voltage standard (ACJVS) that generates both ac and dc waveforms up to 242 mV peak voltage. Using a FFT (fast Fourier transform) spectrum analyzer and an ac/dc transfer standard, we characterize ACJVS operating margins by performing "flat-spot" measurements at the level of a part in 106for all eight bias parameters

Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements•Jun 1, 2004•5 citations

Near-Zero Bias Arrays of Josephson Tunnel Junctions Providing Standard Voltages up to 1 V

Jurgen Niemeyer, Johann Heyen Hinken, Richard L. Kautz

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.

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement•Jun 1, 1985•18 citations

Josephson junction arrays as a variable inductor in RF circuits and tunable filters

V. K. Kaplunenko, Gerd M Fischer

We report on the investigation of the effects of the nonlinear inductance of huge Josephson junction arrays on high-quality RF circuits. The inductance of a single junction is far too small for use in many RF applications; however, Josephson junction stacks and especially intrinsic Josephson junctions in crystalline-layered superconductors open new opportunities. The stack inductance can be altered by changing a DC Josephson current either using an external bias current or an external magnetic field applied to a closed superconducting loop containing two stacks connected in parallel. Using stacks of Josephson junctions in the LC resonators, a tunable 4-pole, 15 MHz band-pass filter with a centre frequency at 1.1 GHz was designed. The filter was simulated in the time domain and the response was converted to the frequency domain. It was found that using an input power level of −62 dBm, corresponding to 0.5% of the junctions' critical current, a linear approximation for the stack nonlinear inductance can be used. By changing the applied magnetic field, a tuning range of 20% was demonstrated with a tuning speed of 2 µs or better. An estimate of the losses is also given. In addition, power handling up to −26 dBm is reported using increasing circuit complexity.

Superconductor Science and Technology•Feb 19, 2004•17 citations

AC coupling technique for Josephson waveform synthesis

Samuel P. Benz, Charles J. Burroughs, Paul D. Dresselhaus

We demonstrate a new bias technique that uses low-pass and high-pass filters to separate the current paths of the sampling and signal frequencies in a Josephson waveform synthesizer. This technique enables the output voltage of the array to be directly grounded by removing the low-frequency common mode signal that previously prevented direct measurement of the array voltage with low-impedance instruments. We directly measure the harmonic spectra of 1 kHz and 50 kHz synthesized sine waves. We also use a thermal transfer standard to compare the rms voltages of synthesized sine waves at frequencies from 1 kHz to 50 kHz. Finally, we describe a new circuit that should enable a significant increase in output voltage by allowing several distributed arrays to be biased in parallel at high frequency, while combining their low frequency output voltages in series.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Mar 1, 2001•102 citations
We have designed and characterized superconducting integrated circuits for the ac Josephson voltage standard that demonstrate significantly improved performance. The typical circuit consists of an array of superconductor-normal metal-superconductor Josephson junctions, which are placed in a transmission line and biased with a broad-band (dc-to-15 GHz) pulse-drive waveform. Additional low-speed (dc and audio frequency) bias and output leads contain on-chip inductors that act as low-pass filters. The operating margins of the array were improved by adding resistive shunts across these inductors to damp their intrinsic resonances. These resonances had previously degraded the integrity of the broad-band signal driving the array. We present simulations and measurements of these improved circuits that demonstrate no resonances in the range of 0.1-20 GHz. Moreover, the operating margins of the ac Josephson voltage standard were improved.
Recent advances in circuit design and fabrication of superconducting integrated circuits have enabled us to demonstrate an ac Josephson voltage standard (ACJVS) that generates both ac and dc waveforms up to 242-mV peak voltage. Using a Fast Fourier Transform spectrum analyzer and an ac-dc transfer standard, we characterize ACJVS operating margins by performing "flat-spot" measurements at the level of a part in 10/sup 6/ for all eight bias parameters. By verifying that every bias parameter has a "flat-spot" (i.e., a range of bias values over which the measured ACJVS output is precisely constant), we demonstrate that all Josephson junctions on the chip are operating properly.
Superconductor/normal conductor/superconductor (SNS) Josephson junction series arrays are the subject of research for the realization of a Josephson arbitrary waveform synthesizer (JAWS) based on pulse-driven Josephson junctions. Lumped arrays of SNS Josephson junctions are investigated for this application at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The series arrays consisting of Nb/HfTi/Nb SNS junctions are embedded in the center line of a coplanar waveguide transmission line. To increase the ac output voltage, the Josephson junction series array is designed as a meander-like structure. A broadband response of the arrays is required for the complex pulse operation of the JAWS. The arrays are investigated by dc measurements and for test purposes under continuous microwave irradiation at different frequencies. Flat Shapiro steps were measured for meander-like series arrays with 21 parallel lines containing up to 10 752 junctions. A sine wave with a frequency of 2.5 kHz and a peak voltage of 214 mV Peak was synthesized under pulse mode operation.
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.
We report on the investigation of the effects of the nonlinear inductance of huge Josephson junction arrays on high-quality RF circuits. The inductance of a single junction is far too small for use in many RF applications; however, Josephson junction stacks and especially intrinsic Josephson junctions in crystalline-layered superconductors open new opportunities. The stack inductance can be altered by changing a DC Josephson current either using an external bias current or an external magnetic field applied to a closed superconducting loop containing two stacks connected in parallel. Using stacks of Josephson junctions in the LC resonators, a tunable 4-pole, 15 MHz band-pass filter with a centre frequency at 1.1 GHz was designed. The filter was simulated in the time domain and the response was converted to the frequency domain. It was found that using an input power level of −62 dBm, corresponding to 0.5% of the junctions' critical current, a linear approximation for the stack nonlinear inductance can be used. By changing the applied magnetic field, a tuning range of 20% was demonstrated with a tuning speed of 2 µs or better. An estimate of the losses is also given. In addition, power handling up to −26 dBm is reported using increasing circuit complexity.
We demonstrate a new bias technique that uses low-pass and high-pass filters to separate the current paths of the sampling and signal frequencies in a Josephson waveform synthesizer. This technique enables the output voltage of the array to be directly grounded by removing the low-frequency common mode signal that previously prevented direct measurement of the array voltage with low-impedance instruments. We directly measure the harmonic spectra of 1 kHz and 50 kHz synthesized sine waves. We also use a thermal transfer standard to compare the rms voltages of synthesized sine waves at frequencies from 1 kHz to 50 kHz. Finally, we describe a new circuit that should enable a significant increase in output voltage by allowing several distributed arrays to be biased in parallel at high frequency, while combining their low frequency output voltages in series.