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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

Fabrication of all-NbN Josephson tunnel junctions using single crystal NbN films for the base electrodes

Alexandre Shoji

Published Mar 1, 1991• 25 citations
Publisher

Abstract

All-NbN Josephson tunnel junctions with sputter-deposited magnesium oxide barriers have been fabricated using single-crystal NbN films for the base electrodes. Fabricated Josephson junctions have shown good tunneling characteristics with large gap voltages (5.6-5.8 mV), narrow gap widths (0.1-0.2 mV, from 30 to 70%), and small subgap leakage currents (V/sub m/=20-30 mV, measured at 3 mV). The results of a measurement of a subgap structure for a fabricated junction suggest that the excess leakage currents of fabricated junctions are due to multiparticle tunneling through locally thin areas in the MgO barriers.

DOI
10.1109/20.133888

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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics•Jan 1, 1981•24 citations
All-NbN Josephson tunnel junctions with sputter-deposited magnesium oxide barriers have been fabricated using single-crystal NbN films for the base electrodes. Fabricated Josephson junctions have shown good tunneling characteristics with large gap voltages (5.6-5.8 mV), narrow gap widths (0.1-0.2 mV, from 30 to 70%), and small subgap leakage currents (V/sub m/=20-30 mV, measured at 3 mV). The results of a measurement of a subgap structure for a fabricated junction suggest that the excess leakage currents of fabricated junctions are due to multiparticle tunneling through locally thin areas in the MgO barriers.
Niobium nitride-niobium nitride Josephson tunnel junctions have been fabricated using amorphous magnesium oxide (a-MgO) films as barriers. These junctions have excellent tunneling characteristics. For example, a large gap voltage (Vg=5.1 mV), a large product of the maximum critical current and the normal tunneling resistance (IcRn=3.25 mV), and a small subgap leakage current (Vm=45 mV, measured at 3 mV) have been obtained for a NbN/a-MgO/NbN junction. The critical current of this junction remains finite up to 14.5 K.
We report the electrical properties of all niobium nitride(NbN) Josephson tunnel junctions with magnesium oxide(MgO) films as barriers in the temperature range 4.2-15 K. NbN/MgO/NbN Josephson tunnel junctions have large gap voltages(Vg=4.8-5.4 mV), large products of the maximum critical currents and the normal tunneling resistances(IcRn=3.15-3.35 mV), and small subgap leakage currents(Vm=13-138 mV) at 4.2 K. The junction parameters decreased with increase in temperature, but reasonably large junction parameters(for example, Vg=4.9 mV, IcRn=2.67 mV, and Vm=22 mV) have been obtained even at 9 K. The magnetic penetration depth in NbN electrodes has been measured up to 15 K using two-junction interferometers which consist of NbN/MgO/NbN junctions, NbN ground planes, and NbN control lines.
We report the fabrication of all-refractory superconductor-insulator-superconductor tunnel junctions of the form NbN/MgO/NbN. The MgO insulating barrier was deposited by e-beam evaporation. High quality junctions were fabricated with sum gaps of 5.2 meV, and a small subgap leakage parameter (Vm=30 mV, measured at 3mV). These devices are for eventual use as quasiparticle mixer elements in millimeter/submiltimeter wave heterodyne receivers. Fabrication techniques and current-voltage characteristics are discussed. We also propose a new growth mode for MgO films on NbN.
Superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions including magnetic barriers, with structures NbN/AlNiN/NbN or NbN/MgO/NiO/MgO/NbN, were fabricated. The junctions with upper NbN layers of good crystallinity showed a gap voltage ( V g ) higher than 5 mV. In an NbN/Al 0.942 Ni 0.058 N/NbN junction, its Josephson current I c was suppressed to approximately a third of a theoretical value under no magnetic field. Therefore, it would be possible to avoid Josephson noise in magnetic barrier junctions with a much smaller magnetic field than junctions with conventional barriers. The Ni ion area density dependence of I c suppression ratio was identical for both types of junction, suggesting that the area density of magnetic ions is the factor that determines the I c suppression ratio. On the other hand, the extents of degradation of V g and increase in leakage current caused by the increase in Ni ion area density were smaller in MgO/NiO/MgO barrier junctions than in AlNiN barrier junctions. This suggests that the proximity effect of magnetic ions was weakened owing to the separation of Ni ions and NbN layers by the inserted thin MgO layers.
We have evaluated the electrical characteristics of NbN/Al-AlNx/NbN tunnel junctions fabricated on sapphire-C or fused-silica substrates. NbN/Al-AlNx/NbN multilayers were prepared by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering deposition of lower and upper NbN layers, and rf-magnetron sputtering deposition of the Al layer, followed by radical-nitridation. The junctions showed low sub-gap leakage currents in the current-voltage characteristics at 4.2 K. The quality parameter, Rsg/Rn, where respective Rsgand Rnare the sub-gap resistance at 2 mV and junction resistance at 5 mV, was above 15. The gap voltage (Vg) was around 3.3 mV, which was reduced in comparison with Vgvalues of ~4.3 mV for junctions on MgO substrates. The reduced Vgwas caused by superconducting properties of lower NbN layers deposited on the sapphire or fused-silica substrates. Uniformity in critical current (Ic) was relatively good, and the maximum-to-minimum spread in Icwas ±1.7% for 200 junctions on a sapphire substrate and ±2.0% for the junctions on a fused-silica substrate.
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.