We report on the electrical transport properties of Nb based Josephson junctions with Pt/Co$_{68}$B$_{32}$/Pt ferromagnetic barriers. The barriers exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, which has the main advantage for potential applications over magnetisation in-plane systems of not affecting the Fraunhofer response of the junction. In addition, we report that there is no magnetic dead layer at the Pt/Co$_{68}$B$_{32}$ interfaces, allowing us to study barriers with ultra-thin Co$_{68}$B$_{32}$. In the junctions, we observe that the magnitude of the critical current oscillates with increasing thickness of the Co$_{68}$B$_{32}$ strong ferromagnetic alloy layer. The oscillations are attributed to the ground state phase difference across the junctions being modified from zero to $π$. The multiple oscillations in the thickness range $0.2~\leqslant~d_\text{CoB}~\leqslant~1.4$~nm suggests that we have access to the first zero-$π$ and $π$-zero phase transitions. Our results fuel the development of low-temperature memory devices based on ferromagnetic Josephson junctions.
We study the Josephson current through a ferromagnetic trilayer, both in the diffusive and clean limits. For colinear (parallel or antiparallel) magnetizations in the layers, the Josephson current is small due to short range proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet structures. For non colinear magnetizations, we determine the conditions for the Josephson current to be dominated by another contribution originating from long range triplet proximity effect.
Josephson junction transistors and 50-junction arrays with linear junction dimensions from 200 nm down to 70 nm were fabricated from standard Nb/AlOx/Nb trilayers. The fabrication process includes electron beam lithography, dry etching, anodization, and planarization by chemical-mechanical polishing. The samples were characterized at temperatures down to 25 mK. In general, all junctions are of high quality and their I-U characteristics show low leakage currents and high superconducting energy gap values of 1.35 meV. The characteristics of the transistors and arrays exhibit some features in the…
We studied the anomalous Josephson current appearing at zero phase difference in junctions coupled with a ferromagnetic trilayer which has noncoplanar magnetizations. A $π/2$ junction with an equilibrium phase difference $π/2$ is obtained under suitable conditions. The equilibrium phase difference and the amplitude of the supercurrent are all tunable by the structure parameters. In addition to calculating the anomalous current using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, we also developed a clear physical picture explaining the anomalous Josephson effect in the structure. We show that the triplet …
We report on an investigation of the redistribution of interlayer coherence in the trilayer cuprate Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. The experiment is performed under the same apical-oxygen phonon excitation discussed in the past for the bilayer cuprate YBa2Cu3O6.5. In Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10, we observe a similar spectral weight loss at the transverse plasma mode resonance seen in YBa2Cu3O6.5. However, this feature is not accompanied by light-enhanced interlayer coherence that was seen in YBa2Cu3O6+x, for which the transverse plasma mode is observed at equilibrium even in the normal state. These new observations off…
Ferromagnet/Superconductor/Ferromagnet (F/S/F) trilayers constitute the core of a superconducting spin valve. The switching effect of the spin valve is based on interference phenomena occurring due to the proximity effect at the S/F interfaces. A remarkable effect is only expected if the core structure exhibits strong critical temperature oscillations, or most favorable, reentrant superconductivity, when the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer is increased. The core structure has to be grown on an antiferromagnetic oxide layer (or such layer to be placed on top) to pin by exchange bias the ma…
The far-infrared (FIR) c axis conductivity of a Bi2223 crystal has been measured by ellipsometry. Below T$_c$ a strong absorption band develops near 500 cm $^{-1}$, corresponding to a transverse Josephson-plasmon. The related increase in FIR spectral weight leads to a giant violation of the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham sum-rule. The gain in c axis kinetic energy accounts for a sizeable part of the condensation energy. We also observe phonon anomalies which suggest that the Josephson-currents lead to a drastic variation of the local electric field within the block of closely spaced CuO$_2$ planes.
We theoretically study the magnetization inside a normal metal induced in an s-wave superconductor/ferromagnetic metal/normal metal/ferromagnetic metal/s-wave superconductor (S/F1/N/F2/S) Josephson junction. Using quasiclassical Green's function method, we show that the magnetization becomes finite inside N. The origin of this magnetization is due to odd-frequency spin-triplet Cooper pairs formed by electrons of equal and opposite spins, which are induced by proximity effect in the S/F1/N/F2/S junction. We find that the magnetization M(d,q) in N can be decomposed into two parts, M(d,q)=MI(d)+M…
Josephson junctions containing ferromagnetic materials exhibit interesting physics and show promise as circuit elements for superconducting logic and memory. For memory applications, the properties of the junction should be controllable by changing the magnetic configuration inside the junction. To achieve good magnetic switching properties, one should choose a soft magnetic material such as NiFe (permalloy); however, NiFe exhibits poor supercurrent transmission in Josephson junctions. In this work we put thin layers of Ni on either side of the NiFe and characterize the magnetic behavior and s…
Josephson junctions were fabricated in epitaxial films of cobalt-doped BaFe2As2 on [001]-tilt (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 bicrystal substrates. 10m-wide microbridges spanning a 30-degrees-tilted bicrystal grain boundary (BGB bridge) exhibited resistively-shunted-junction (RSJ)-like current-voltage characteristics up to 17 K, and the critical current was suppressed remarkably by a magnetic field. Microbridges without a BGB did not show the RSJ-like behavior, and their critical current densities were 20 times larger than those of BGB bridges, confirming BGB bridges display a Josephson effect originating fr…
Fabrication and Structural Analysis of Trilayers for Tantalum Josephson Junctions with Ta$_2$O$_5$ Barriers
University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；Colorado School of Mines（科罗拉多矿业学院）；National Laboratory of the Rockies（落基山国家实验室）；Pacific Northwest National Laboratory（太平洋西北国家实验室）；Rigetti Computing, Inc.（里盖蒂计算公司）
We present our new fabrication Process for Superconductor Electronics (PSE2) that integrates two (2) layers of Josephson junctions in a fully planarized multilayer process on 200-mm wafers. The two junction layers can be, e.g., conventional Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) Nb/Al/AlO_x/Nb junctions with the same or different Josephson critical current densities, J_c. The process also allows integration of high-J_c Superconductor-Ferromagnet-Superconductor (SFS) or SFS'S JJs on the first junction layer with Nb/Al/AlO_x/Nb trilayer junctions on the second junction layer, or vice vers…
We have developed a novel Josephson junction geometry with minimal volume of lossy isolation dielectric, being suitable for higher quality trilayer junctions implemented in qubits. The junctions are based on in-situ deposited trilayers with thermal tunnel oxide, have micron-sized areas and a low subgap current. In qubit spectroscopy only a few avoided level crossings are observed, and the measured relaxation time of $T_1\approx400\;\rm{nsec}$ is in good agreement with the usual phase qubit decay time, indicating low loss due to the additional isolation dielectric.
An effective free energy of a two dimensional (i.e. large area) Josephson Junctions is derived, allowing for thermal fluctuations, for random magnetic fields and for external currents. We show by using replica symmetry breaking methods, that the junction has four distinct phases: disordered, Josephson ordered, a glass phase and a coexisting Josephson order with the glass phase. Near the coexistence to glass transition at s=1/2 the critical current is ~ (area)^{-s+1/2} where s is a measure of disorder. Our results may account for junction ordering at temperatures well below the critical tempera…
Based on a hybrid interlayer coupling mechanism, we study the coexistence of superconductivity (SC) and antiferromagnetism (AFM) in trilayer cuprates. By introducing an interlayer magnetic scattering term, we solve the multilayer $t{-}J$ model with Josephson coupling under the framework of Gutzwiller projection. We show that both the SC and AFM orders in the multilayered system are enhanced and the range of AFM order is extended. The layer configuration of d-wave pairing gap and AFM order further plays an essential role in determining the interlayer magnetic and superconducting coupling phase …
We study the thermodynamics of the diffusive SFS trilayer composed of thin superconductor (S) and ferromagnet (F) layers. On the basis the self-consistent solutions of nonlinear Usadel equations in the F and S layers we obtain the Ginzburg--Landau expansion and compute the condensation free energy and entropy of the $0$ (even) and $π$ (odd) order parameter configurations. The first order $0-π$ transition as a function of temperature $T$ occurs, which is responsible for a jump of the averaged magnetic field penetration depth $λ(T)$ recently observed on experiments [N.Pompeo, et. al., Phys. Rev.…
We propose a picture for the magnetic properties of superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) heterostructures based on Nb and permalloy (Py: Fe_{20}Ni_{80}). By measuring the magnetic moment as a function of the temperature in S/F/S trilayers for different thicknesses of the middle F layer, we give evidence of the presence of a magnetic stray field of the F layer. For values of F-layer thickness below a threshold, we establish a correlation between the magnetic measurements of the S/F/S trilayers and the anomalous magnetic dependence of the critical current in S/insulator/thin superconducting film/F/S…
Josephson junctions were fabricated using two different methods of barrier formation. The trilayers employed were Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb on sapphire, where the first two layers were epitaxial. The oxide barrier was formed either by exposing the Al surface to O2 or by codepositing Al in an O2 background. The codeposition process yielded junctions that showed the theoretically predicted subgap current and no measurable shunt conductance. In contrast, devices with barriers formed by thermal oxidation showed a small shunt conductance in addition to the predicted subgap current.
We propose a trilayer $π$-junction that takes advantage of the unconventional $s_{x^2 y^2}=\cos k_x \cos k_y$ pairing symmetry which changes sign between electron and hole Fermi pockets in the iron pnictides. In addition, we also present theoretical results for Andreev bound states in thin superconductor-normal metal (or insulator) iron-pnictide junctions. The presence of nontrivial in-gap states, which uniquely appear in this unconventional pairing state, is a distinct feature in comparison to other singlet pairing states.
We demonstrate a Josephson junction with a weak link containing two ferromagnets, with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and independent switching fields in which the critical current can be set by the mutual orientation of the two layers. Such pseudospin-valve Josephson junctions are a candidate cryogenic memory in an all superconducting computational scheme. Here, we use Pt/Co/Pt/CoB/Pt as the weak link of the junction with $d_\text{Co} = 0.6$ nm, $d_\text{CoB} = 0.3$ nm, and $d_\text{Pt} = 5$ nm and obtain a $60\%$ change in the critical current for the two magnetization configurations of t…
We have investigated the Josephson coupling between two s-wave superconductors separated by the ferromagnetic trilayers with noncollinear magnetization. We find that the long-range triplet critical current will oscillate with the strength of the exchange field and the thickness of the interface layer, when the interface magnetizations are orthogonal to the central magnetization. This feature is induced by the spatial oscillations of the spin-triplet state |\uparrow\downarrow>+|\downarrow\uparrow> in the interface layer. Moreover, the critical current can exhibit a characteristic nonmonotonic b…
We present a structure and a fabrication method for superconducting tunnel junctions down to the dimensions of 200 nm using i-line UV lithography. The key element is a side-wall-passivating spacer structure (SWAPS) which is shaped for smooth crossline contacting and low parasitic capacitance. The SWAPS structure enables formation of junctions with dimensions at or below the lithography-limited linewidth. An additional benefit is avoiding the excessive use of amorphous dielectric materials which is favorable in sub-Kelvin microwave applications often plagued by nonlinear and lossy dielectrics. …
We study the influence of misalignment of the ferromagnetic exchange field on the equilibrium properties of hybrid structures, composed of superconducting (S) and ferromagnetic (F) parts. In particular, we study numerically the superconducting critical temperature Tc in F-S-F trilayers and in F-S-F-S-F Josephson junctions as a function of the misalignment angle theta of the ferromagnetic magnetization. We discuss the corresponding phase diagrams for these hybrid structures. For the Josephson junctions, a transition between the zero-phase and the pi-phase ground state as a function of theta tak…
The most developed integrated receivers for THz radiation nowadays are based on Josephson junction SIS devices. In this kind of devices, the highest receivable frequency is determined by the energy gap of the superconducting electrodes and limited to approximately 700 GHz in case of Nb/AlOx/Nb multilayers. We have developed a technology for NbN/AlN/NbN Josephson junctions on sapphire substrates which allow operation at frequencies above 1 THz. The trilayers are deposited in-situ in a 3-chamber DC-magnetron sputtering system at temperatures as high as 775 °C. Each layer is reactively sputtered …
We study the proximity effect in superconductor (S), antiferromagnetic (AF) bilayers, and report the fabrication and measurement of the first trilayer S/AF/S Josephson junctions. The disordered f.c.c. alloy γ-Fe50Mn50 was used as the AF, and the S is Nb. Micron and sub-micron scale junctions were measured, and the scaling of $J_C (d_AF)$ gives a coherence length in the AF of 2.4 nm, which correlates with the coherence length due to suppression of $T_C$ in the bilayer samples. The diffusion constant for FeMn was found to be 1.7 \times 10$^{-4}$ m$^2$ s$^-1$, and the density of states at the Fer…
Substrate insulated Josephson junctions for superconducting quantum circuits
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院）；Fraunhofer-Institut für Elektronische Nanosysteme, Chemnitz（弗劳恩霍夫电子纳米系统研究所，开姆尼茨）；Institut für Quantenmaterialien und Technologie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie（量子材料与技术研究所，卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院）
Systematic modulation of superconducting gap dynamics in YBCO|BNT|YBCO Josephson Junctions through THz field interaction and BNT ferroelectric barrier
Chiang Mai University（清迈大学）；Universität Stuttgart（斯图加特大学）；University of Zambia（赞比亚大学）；Khon Kaen University（孔敬大学）；Institute of Nanomaterials Research and Innovation for Energy (IN-RIE), Research Network of NANOTEC- KKU (RNN)（纳米材料研究与能源创新研究所（IN-RIE），NANOTEC-孔敬大学研究网络（RNN））；University of Macau（澳门大学）；Macau University of Science and Technology（澳门科技大学）
We consider a Josephson junction with ${\rm F_1 F_2 F_3}$ ferromagnetic trilayers in the ballistic regime, where the magnetization in each ferromagnet ${\rm F}_i (i=1,2,3)$, can have arbitrary orientations and magnetization strengths. The trilayers are sandwiched between two $s$-wave superconductors with a macroscopic phase difference $Δφ$. A broad range of magnetization strengths of the central $\rm F_2$ layer are considered, from an unpolarized normal metal (N) to a half-metallic phase, supporting only one spin species. Our results reveal that when the magnetization configuration in ${\rm F_…
We report measurements of the critical current vs. Co thickness in Nb/Cu/Co/Ru/Co/Cu/Nb Josephson junctions, where the inner Co/Ru/Co trilayer is a "synthetic antiferromagnet" with the magnetizations of the two Co layers coupled antiparallel to each other via the 0.6 nm-thick Ru layer. Due to the antiparallel magnetization alignment, the net intrinsic magnetic flux in the junction is nearly zero, and such junctions exhibit excellent Fraunhofer patterns in the critical current vs. applied magnetic field, even with total Co thicknesses as large as 23 nm. There are no apparent oscillations in the…
Motivated by a recent experiment [J. W. A. Robinson, J. D. S. Witt and M. G. Blamire, Science, \textbf{329}, 5987 (2010)], we here study the possibility of establishing a long-range spin-triplet supercurrent through an inhomogeneous ferromagnetic region consisting of a Ho$\mid$Co$\mid$Ho trilayer sandwiched between two conventional s-wave superconductors. We utilize a full numerical solution in the diffusive regime of transport and study the behavior of the supercurrent for various experimentally relevant configurations of the ferromagnetic trilayer. We obtain qualitatively very good agreement…
Trilayer nickelates, which exhibit a high degree of orbital polarization combined with an electron count (d8.67) corresponding to overdoped cuprates, have been identified as a promising candidate platform for achieving high-Tc superconductivity. One such material, La4Ni3O8, undergoes a semiconductor-insulator transition at ~105 K, which was recently shown to arise from the formation of charge stripes. However, an outstanding issue has been the origin of an anomaly in the magnetic susceptibility at the transition and whether it signifies formation of spin stripes akin to single layer nickelates…
We study the electrical transport of vertically-stacked Josephson tunnel junctions using GdBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-d}$ electrodes and a BaTiO$_3$ barrier with thicknesses between 1 nm and 3 nm. The junctions with an area of 20 mm x 20 mm were fabricated combining optical lithography and ion etching using GdBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-d}$ (16 nm) / BaTiO$_3$ (1 - 3 nm) / GdBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-d}$ (16 nm) trilayers growth by sputtering on (100) SrTiO$_3$. Current-voltage measurements at low temperatures show a Josephson coupling for junctions with BaTiO$_3$ barriers of 1 nm and 2 nm. Reducing the barrier thicknes…
The trilayer and pentalayer spin valve structures are revisited to determine the behavior of pair correlations and Josephson current when the magnetic layers are canted at arbitrary angle. The two systems display markedly different behaviors in the center magnetic layer. While the trilayer generates a triplet component that is weakly affected by canting, the pentalayer tunes in singlet pair correlations depending heavily on canting. We also show that a minimum with depleted $m=\pm1$ triplet components, rather than a $0-π$ transition, may be observed in the current profile $I_c(d_F)$ of a trila…
The BCS-like pairing in ultracold fermionic atomic ($UCFAG$) gases is studied in the model of "isotopic-spin" pairing proposed in 1991 \cite% {Ku-Hof-SSC}. This model assumes a mismatch ($δ$) in chemical potentials of pairing fermionic atoms. It is shown that a $π$-Josephson junction can be realized in $UCFAG$ systems, where the left and right banks $% S$ are the $UCFAG$ superfluids. The weak link $M$ consists from the normal $% UCFAG$ with the finite mismatch $δ$. If the $π$-junction is a part of a closed ring the superfluid mass-current flows spontaneously in the ring, i.e., the time-reversa…
Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a promising technique for producing Josephson junctions (JJs) with lower defect densities for qubit applications. A key problem with using ALD for JJs is the interfacial layer (IL) that develops underneath the tunnel barrier. An IL up to 2 nm forms between ALD Al2O3 and Al. However, the IL thickness is unknown for ALD films less 1 nm. In this work, Nb-Al-ALD-Al2O3-Nb trilayers with tunnel barriers from 0.6 - 1.6 nm were grown in situ. Nb-Al-AlOx-Nb JJs with thermally oxidized tunnel barrier were produced for reference. RN was obtained using a four-point method …
Using a Keldysh formalism, we study supercurrent (SC) transport in several types of diffusive ferromagnet(F)/superconductor(S) configurations. We separate out the even- and odd-frequency components and identify the relative contributions from the singlet and triplet channels. We first consider 1D Josephson structures consisting of a uniform SFFS structure and a trilayer SFFFS configuration. Our results demonstrate that for SCs flowing perpendicular to the FF interfaces, incorporating a conical texture yields the most effective way to observe the signatures of the long-ranged SC. We also consid…
