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Physical Review B

Temperature dependence measurements of the supercurrent-phase relationship in niobium nanobridges

A.G.P. Troeman, S. H. W. van der Ploeg, Evgeni V. Il’ichev, H.‐G. Meyer, Alexander A. Golubov, M. Yu. Kupriyanov, Hans Hilgenkamp

Published Jan 14, 2008• 53 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The current-phase relationship has been measured as a function of temperature for niobium nanobridges with different widths. A deformation from Josephson-like sinusoidal characteristics at high temperatures to sawtooth shaped curves at intermediate and multivalued relationships at low temperatures was observed. Based on this, possible hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristics of niobium nanobridge superconducting quantum interference devices can be attributed to phase slippage.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.77.024509

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The current-phase relationship has been measured as a function of temperature for niobium nanobridges with different widths. A deformation from Josephson-like sinusoidal characteristics at high temperatures to sawtooth shaped curves at intermediate and multivalued relationships at low temperatures was observed. Based on this, possible hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristics of niobium nanobridge superconducting quantum interference devices can be attributed to phase slippage.
For a study of the supercurrent–phase relationship, we have fabricated Nb/Al/AlOx/Al/AlOx/Al/Nb-based Josephson junctions of low critical current density. At 4.2 K, junctions of a nominal area of 10×10 μm2 showed a nonhysteretic dc current–voltage characteristic with a critical current of about 10 μA. Similar junctions were part of washer-type rf superconductor quantum interference devices. These samples were inductively coupled to high-quality tank circuits for measurements at 4.2 K or at higher temperatures up to values close to the critical temperature of niobium. In this range, the current–phase relation, as deduced from impedance measurements of the phase-biased junction, did not deviate significantly from the sinusoidal shape.
The growing interest in the development of nano-superconducting quantum interference devices (nanoSQUIDs) and their applications in nanoscience demands a deep study of these ultra-high-sensitivity nanodevices. In this paper, the main features of niobium planar nanointerferometers as a function of the temperature have been investigated. In particular, two types of nanodevices have been realized and studied: one based on nanobridges and the other on sub-micron Josephson tunnel junctions (JTJs). The nanobridge-based nanointerferometer, fabricated by electron beam lithography (EBL), consists of a sub-micrometric loop (effective area of 0.5 μ m 2 ), interrupted by two Dayem nanobridges having a width and length of 50 and 80 nm respectively. The JTJs-based nanointerferometer has two Nb/Al-AlO x /Nb SNIS (superconductor/normal-insulator/superconductor) junctions with an area of 0.09 μ m 2 , connected by a rectangular loop (1 μ m × 0.2 μ m), and realized by the three-dimensional focused ion beam (3D FIB) sculpting technique. For both nanodevices, measurements of current–voltage characteristics and critical current versus external magnetic flux have been performed at operating temperatures ranging from 4.2 to 1.2 K. The critical current modulation depths, magnetic flux to current transfer factor (current responsivity) and magnetic flux resolution as a function of the temperature have been evaluated for both nanosensors. Furthermore, measurements of the voltage–magnetic flux characteristics and the spectral density of magnetic flux noise have been performed at T = 4.2 K.
The nanobridge junction (NBJ) is a type of Josephson junction that is advantageous for the miniaturization of superconducting circuits. However, the current–phase relation (CPR) of the NBJ usually deviates from a sinusoidal function, which has been explained by a simplified model with correlation only to its effective length. Here, we investigated both measured and calculated CPRs of niobium NBJs of a cuboidal shape with a three-dimensional bank structure. From a sine-wave to a sawtooth-like form, we showed that deviated CPRs of NBJs can be described quantitatively by its skewness Δθ. Furthermore, the measured dependence of Δθ on the critical current I 0 from 108 NBJs turned out to be consistent with the calculated dependence derived from the change in geometric dimensions. This suggested that the CPRs of NBJs can be tuned by their geometric dimensions. In addition, the calculated scaling behavior of Δ θ versus I 0 in 3D space was provided for the future design of superconducting circuits of a high integration level by using niobium NBJs.
Motivated by a search for a suitable technology to fabricate Josephson junctions with a tunable damping regime, we performed a systematic study of the temperature effect on the critical current in Nb/Al-AlO x -Nb heterostructures with a nanometer-thick Al interlayer. For Al layer thicknesses ranging from 40 to 110 nm, we have observed a transition from hysteretic (below 4.2 K) to non-hysteretic (above 4.2 K) current-voltage curves. Measured supercurrent-vs-temperature characteristics which significantly differ from those of traditional SIS and SNS devices are interpreted in terms of the superconducting proximity effect between Al and Nb films. Thermal stability and good reproducibility of our junctions are demonstrated.
We have fabricated and characterized niobium film based superconducting weak link (WL) devices and micron-size superconducting quantum interference devices (µ-SQUIDs) with superconducting WLs as Josephson Junctions. Here we discuss the effect of WL width on the hysteresis and crossover temperature (Th) while keeping the other dimensions fixed. We find that the critical current reduces linearly with the width and thus Th reduces with decreasing width. This makes some of the devices non-hysteretic down to 1.3K. We also discuss the observed excess current in the current-voltage characteristics of these devices, in terms of Andreev reflection.
We have fabricated two types of NbN nanobridge dc Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs). From the analyses of the response to magnetic field, it is found that the current-phase relationship for the planar-type nanobridge and the nanobridge fabricated by field evaporation is close to sinusoidal. For V\gtrsim720 µV, The spectral densities of the voltage noise show linear dependence on the voltage for the SQUIDs with nanobridges whose length is about the superconducting coherence length of NbN. The SQUIDs with nanobridges with lengths of several times the NbN coherence length exhibit parabolic voltage dependence.