A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise

Tian, Jifa; Jauregui, Luis A.; Wilen, C. D.; Rigosi, Albert F.; Newell, David B.; McDermott, R.; Chen, Yong P.

doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f

A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f· OSTI ID:1979277

^[1]; Jauregui, Luis A. ^[2]; Wilen, C. D. ^[3]; ^[4]; Newell, David B. ^[4]; ^[3]; ^[5]

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); OSTI
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Aarhus Univ. (Denmark); Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan)

Decoherence in quantum bits (qubits) is a major challenge for realizing scalable quantum computing. One of the primary causes of decoherence in qubits and quantum circuits based on superconducting Josephson junctions is the critical current fluctuation. Many efforts have been devoted to suppressing the critical current fluctuation in Josephson junctions. Nonetheless, the efforts have been hindered by the defect-induced trapping states in oxide-based tunnel barriers and the interfaces with superconductors in the traditional Josephson junctions. Motivated by this, along with the recent demonstration of 2D insulator h-BN with exceptional crystallinity and low defect density, we fabricated a vertical NbSe₂/h-BN/Nb Josephson junction consisting of a bottom NbSe₂ superconductor thin layer and a top Nb superconductor spaced by an atomically thin h-BN layer. Furthermore, we characterized the superconducting current and voltage (I–V) relationships and Fraunhofer pattern of the NbSe₂/h-BN/Nb junction. Notably, we demonstrated the critical current noise (1/f noise power) in the h-BN-based Josephson device is at least a factor of four lower than that of the previously studied aluminum oxide-based Josephson junctions. Our work offers a strong promise of h-BN as a novel tunnel barrier for high-quality Josephson junctions and qubit applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0021281

OSTI ID:: 1979277

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2335857

Journal Information:: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter, Journal Name: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter Journal Issue: 49 Vol. 33; ISSN 0953-8984

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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