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Notes: Josephson junctions and dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) have been fabricated in ex situ epitaxial Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 films on bicrystal LaAlO3 substrates with symmetric 32° [001] tilt grain boundaries. The critical temperature Tc, of the junctions was in the range 105–107 K and the critical current densities at 77 K varied between 3×102 and 3×104 A/cm2, two or three orders of magnitude less than those of the film. The I–V curves are described by a resistively shunted junction model. Close to Tc, the temperature dependence of the critical current was described by (1−T/Tc)2. The flux noise spectra SΦ(f) of dc SQUIDs were measured in the locked-loop regime with constant current bias at temperatures up to 94 K. The white noise level was 50μΦ0/(square root of)Hz at 77 K. The crossover frequency to 1/f noise was low, about 5 Hz, and the flux noise level at 1 Hz was 440μΦ0/(square root of)Hz. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Design, simulation, and experimental investigations of a direct current to a single flux quantum converter loaded with a Josephson transmission line and driven by an external 70 GHz microwave oscillator are reported. The test circuit includes nine YBaCuO Josephson junctions aligned on the grain boundary of a 0°–32° asymmetric Y-ZrO2 bicrystal substrate. The performance of such converters is important for the development of the fast Josephson samplers required for testing of high-Tc rapid single flux quantum circuits in high-speed digital superconducting electronics.

Notes: Sharp and straight step edges on (001) LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates were ion milled by using an electron beam defined amorphous carbon thin film mask. YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films patterned to narrow strips across the step edges gave high quality Josephson junctions. Their current–voltage (I–V) curves could be well described by the resistively shunted junction model with or without excess current. By varying the YBCO film thickness over a fixed step height, the critical current density (jc) of the junction could be changed by several orders of magnitude. For junctions with high jc, typical IcRn (product of critical current and normal resistance) values of around 100 μV at 77 K and more than 1 mV at 4.2 K were obtained. Some excess current was observed. For junctions with low jc, the dependence of Ic on an applied magnetic field was strong even at low temperatures. The Ic showed a main peak in the center and well-defined periods as a function of applied magnetic field. The minimum Ic value suppressed by the magnetic field was about 20% of its maximum value at 4.2 K. Junctions with low jc usually showed hysteretic I–V curves at low temperatures. The McCumber constant βc fell in the range of 0.8–2. Fiske and flux-flow resonances were observed for some junctions. The shunting capacitances of the junctions were estimated from the McCumber constant βc, Fiske resonances, and flux-flow resonances. A shunting capacitance value per unit area of 12–35 fF/μm2 was obtained. High resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was used to study YBCO films grown across straight and wavy step edges. Two 90° tilt boundaries were formed at the edge of a step. The top and bottom YBCO films had their c axis oriented normal to the (001) plane of LAO. In the edge region, the c axis of the YBCO film was tilted by 90°, the a axis was normal to the (001) plane of LAO, and the b axis was lying along the step edge. For wavy step edges, second phase particles usually appeared in the YBCO film along the step edge region. Defects were found on the surface of the LAO substrate along the wavy step edge region. These defects might act as nucleation centers for the second phase particles in the YBCO film. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Epitaxial trilayer heterostructures of YBa2Cu3O7−δ/BaxSr1−xTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−δ were grown on silicon-on-sapphire buffered by a double layer of CeO2/Y–ZrO2. Such structures may be considered for tunable microwave filters. The top and bottom YBa2Cu3O7−δ films were well c-axis oriented, free from microcracks and had superconducting transitions Tc's in the range 86–90 K. A thin antidiffusion layer of SrTiO3 (d≈70 A(ring)) between YBa2Cu3O7−δ and BaxSr1−xTiO3 (x=0.25–0.9) promoted better crystallinity and higher Tc of the top superconducting film. An Ag/BaxSr1−xTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−δ capacitor structure was used to determine the dielectric permittivity and the high frequency loss tan δ of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 layer. Maximum values of the permittivity of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 layers were observed around the Curie temperatures of corresponding bulk monocrystals. The dielectric permittivity of the BaxSr1−xTiO3 (x=0.25–0.75) layers depended strongly (≈20%) on an applied voltage (±2.5 V) at temperatures around 77 K. The tan δ was much higher in films than in bulk crystals. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The combination of a low loss, high-Tc superconductor and a polarizable dielectric looks interesting from the point of tunable, high Q filters for cellular communication. Epitaxial heterostructures of YBa2Cu3O7−∂/SrTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−∂/CeO2 and SrTiO3/YBa2Cu3O7−∂/CeO2 were grown on sapphire substrates in this study. Superconducting transition temperatures of 88–90 K and a critical current density of about 2×106 A/cm2 at 77 K were determined for YBa2Cu3O7−∂ films on CeO2 buffered sapphire. An effective permittivity of 340 at 300 K was measured capacitively for the SrTiO3 layer between YBa2Cu3O7−∂ electrodes; it increased three times at 50 K. The dielectric constant of SrTiO3 was observed to decrease a factor of 2 as a dc bias voltage of ±2.5 V was applied between the electrodes. Much smaller nonlinearities and temperature dependences of the dielectric constant were noted if the top YBa2Cu3O7−∂ electrode was replaced by an Ag one. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: High-current-density Josephson junctions have been produced in high-temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−δ films deposited on silicon on sapphire and using biepitaxial grain boundaries. The technique is estimated to be useful in integrating superconducting and semiconducting components. A multilayer system of epitaxially grown films was used to form the junctions. A double buffer layer CeO2/ZrO2(9.5% Y2O3) prevented interactions between YBa2Cu3O7−δ and Si during the high-temperature deposition and promoted formation microcrack-free films with a critical current density of 2×106 A/cm2 at 77 K. A MgO seed layer, with (001)MgO(parallel)(001)CeO2 orientation, was used to induce a 45° crystallographic grain boundary in YBa2Cu3O7−δ at its edge. An additional epitaxial buffer double layer of YBa2Cu3O7−δ and SrTiO3 on top of the seed layer promoted the formation of a grain boundary of better crystallinity and stoichiometry. It improved the critical current of the junction about tenfold and resulted in characteristic IcRn products of 150 μV at 77 K in microbridges crossing the grain boundary. Microwave-induced steps were detected at 77 K up to voltages corresponding to the characteristic IcRn value. Peak-to-peak responses to superconducting quantum interference devices reached values of 7 μV at 77 K. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: YBa2Cu3O7−x/insulator/YBa2Cu3O7−x trilayers with a single PrGaO3 (PGO) layer or a SrTiO3 (STO)/PGO multilayer as the insulator were prepared by laser deposition. The PGO layers contained pinholes extending down to the bottom layer, causing superconducting microshorts. The pinholes were eliminated by introducing thin STO films, both as buffer layers and in the PGO itself. Insulation resistivity values of 2×109 Ω cm were measured at 77 K for areas up to 1500 μm2 in these trilayers. For larger areas the insulation decreased by orders of magnitude. This was caused by local disruption of the insulator layer, possibly induced by contaminations or defects in the substrate. The particles observed on the bottom layer were in general continuously covered by the multilayer insulator, and did not affect the insulation. The high-quality insulator layer was found to limit the oxidation of the bottom layer, due to a slower rate of oxygen diffusion. The structure of the STO/PGO layers depended on the thickness of the individual films. Voids started to form in the PGO above a critical thickness of 40 nm. The voids lowered the dielectric constant of the insulator, and a value of 18.5±4.5 was measured at room temperature for a STO/PGO multilayer insulator. The voids could be eliminated by decreasing the thickness of the individual PGO films.

Notes: Josephson junctions and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) were made by depositing thin films of YBa2Cu3O7 on bicrystal substrates of Y-ZrO2 and SrTiO3. The critical current density of the junctions at 77 K could be adjusted from 100 to 106 A/cm2 by selecting bicrystals with misorientation angles θ from 45° to 0°. Current-voltage curves from junctions with θ(approximately-greater-than)22° followed the resistively shunted junction model with noise rounding close to the transition temperature. The response of the critical current to magnetic fields was Fraunhofer-like and the width (w) dependence was 1/w2 due to flux focusing effects. Shapiro steps under microwave radiation were observed. SQUIDs based on these junctions had energy resolutions at 77 K down to 8.6×10−30 J/Hz and a 10 Hz flux noise level down to 1.5×10−9 Φ20/Hz at 85 K. A SQUID of the Ketchen design with a flux focusing washer had a magnetic field sensitivity of 15 pT/(square root of)Hz at 77 K. The temperature dependence of the voltage modulation depth close to TC was examined and found to be in agreement with theory [K. Enpuku, Y. Shimomura, and T. Kisu, J. Appl. Phys. 73, 7929 (1993)].

Notes: c-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) thin films were laser deposited on (001) yttria-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) substrates with different surface morphologies. The in-plane orientation of the films on smooth substrates was sensitive to the deposition conditions, often resulting in mixed orientations. However, a strongly dominating [110]YBCO//[110]YSZ orientation was obtained at a deposition temperature of 770 °C. Films on substrates with surface steps, induced by depositing a homoepitaxial buffer layer or by thermally annealing the substrate, had a [110]YBCO//[100]YSZ orientation when deposited at the same temperature. It was concluded that the [110]YBCO//[100]YSZ orientation was promoted by a graphoepitaxial mechanism. Films prepared under identical conditions on smooth and stepped substrates grew with extended c axes on the former. It is proposed that the extension can be induced by disorder, invoked by a low oxygen pressure and a low density of adsorption sites. The disorder may be eliminated by either an increase of the oxygen pressure or an increase of the density of adsorption sites in the form of steps. The film microstructure influenced the microwave surface resistance, which was similar for films with one exclusive in-plane orientation and higher for films with mixed orientations. The films on the stepped surfaces had superior superconducting properties; inductive measurements gave a Tconset of 88 K, a ΔT(90%–10%)c of 0.2 K, and the transport jc was 1.5×106 A/cm2 at 83 K, for films on substrates with homoepitaxial buffer layers.

Notes: An extensive investigation of low frequency noise in single electron transistors as a function of gain is presented. Comparing the output noise with gain for a large number of bias points, it is found that the noise is dominated by external charge noise. For low gains we find an additional noise contribution which is compared to a model including resistance fluctuations. We conclude that this excess noise is not primarily due to resistance fluctuations. For one sample, we find a low minimum charge noise of qn(approximate)2×10−5 e/Hz at a frequency of 4.4 kHz. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.