skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Transport in arrays of submicron Josephson junctions over a ground plane

Thesis/Dissertation ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/582220· OSTI ID:582220
 [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

One-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) arrays of Al islands linked by submicron Al/AlxOy/Al tunnel junctions were fabricated on an insulating layer grown on a ground plane. The arrays were cooled to temperatures as low as 20 mK where the Josephson coupling energy EJ of each junction and the charging energy EC of each island were much greater than the thermal energy kBT. The capacitance Cg between each island and the ground plane was much greater than the junction capacitance C. Two classes of arrays were studied. In the first class, the normal state tunneling resistance of the junctions was much larger than the resistance quantum for single electrons, RN>> RQe≡ h/e2 ~ 25.8 kΩ, and the islands were driven normal by an applied magnetic field such that EJ = 0 and the array was in the Coulomb blockade regime. The arrays were made on degenerately-doped Si, thermally oxidized to a thickness of approximately 100 nm. The current-voltage (I - V) characteristics of a 1D and a 2D array were measured and found to display a threshold voltage VT below which little current flows. In the second class of arrays, the normal state tunneling resistance of the junctions was close to the resistance quantum for Cooper pairs, RN≈RQ≡h/4e2≈6.45kΩ, such that EJ/EC≈1. The arrays were made on GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As heterostructures with a two-dimensional electron gas approximately 100 nm below the surface. One array displayed superconducting behavior at low temperature. Two arrays displayed insulating behavior at low temperature, and the size of the Coulomb gap increased with increasing Rg.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
582220
Report Number(s):
LBNL-41203; ON: DE98052321; ON: DE98052321; TRN: AH200126%%1
Resource Relation:
Other Information: TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to the Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (US); Supercedes report DE98052321; PBD: 1 Dec 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Scaling behavior in the current-voltage characteristic of one- and two-dimensional arrays of small metallic islands
Journal Article · Mon Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:582220

Inductance effects and dimensionality crossover in hybrid superconducting arrays
Journal Article · Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter · OSTI ID:582220

Onset of superconductivity in ultrathin granular metal films
Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States) · OSTI ID:582220