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Register a new userFabrication of stable and reproducible sub-micron tunnel junctions
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We have performed a detailed study of the time stability and reproducibility of sub-micron $Al/AlO_{x}/Al$ tunnel junctions, fabricated using standard double angle shadow evaporations. We have found that by aggressively cleaning the substrate before the evaporations, thus preventing any contamination of the junction, we obtained perfectly stable oxide barriers. We also present measurements on large ensembles of junctions which prove the reproducibility of the fabrication process. The measured tunnel resistance variance in large ensembles of identically fabricated junctions is in the range of only a few percents. Finally, we have studied the effect of different thermal treatments on the junction barrier. This is especially important for multiple step fabrication processes which imply annealing the junction.
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In electronic cooling with superconducting tunnel junctions, the cooling power is counterbalanced by the interaction with phonons and by the heat flow from the overheated leads. We study aluminium-based coolers that are equipped with a suspended normal metal and an efficient quasi-particle drain. At intermediate temperatures, the phonon bath of the suspended normal metal is cooled. At lower temperatures, by adjusting the junction transparency, we control the injection current, and thus the superconductor temperature. The device shows a strong cooling from 150 mK down to about 30 mK, a factor of five in temperature. We suggest that spatial non-uniformity in the superconductor gap limits the cooling toward lower temperatures.
Aluminium oxide (AlO$_mathrm{x}$) tunnel junctions are important components in a range of nanoelectric devices including superconducting qubits where they can be used as Josephson junctions. While many improvements in the reproducibility and reliability of qubits have been made possible through new circuit designs, there are still knowledge gaps in the relevant materials science. A better understanding of how fabrication conditions affect the density, uniformity, and elemental composition of the oxide barrier may lead to the development of lower noise and more reliable nanoelectronics and quantum computers. In this paper we use molecular dynamics to develop models of Al-AlO$_mathrm{x}$-Al junctions by iteratively growing the structures with sequential calculations. With this approach we can see how the surface oxide grows and changes during the oxidation simulation. Dynamic processes such as the evolution of a charge gradient across the oxide, the formation of holes in the oxide layer, and changes between amorphous and semi-crystalline phases are observed. Our results are widely in agreement with previous work including reported oxide densities, self-limiting of the oxidation, and increased crystallinity as the simulation temperature is raised. The encapsulation of the oxide with metal evaporation is also studied atom by atom. Low density regions at the metal-oxide interfaces are a common feature in the final junction structures which persists for different oxidation parameters, empirical potentials, and crystal orientations of the aluminium substrate.
We demonstrate an original method -- based on controlled oxidation -- to create high-quality tunnel junctions between superconducting Al reservoirs and InAs semiconductor nanowires. We show clean tunnel characteristics with a current suppression by over $4$ orders of magnitude for a junction bias well below the Al gap $Delta_0 approx 200,mu {rm eV}$. The experimental data are in close agreement with the BCS theoretical expectations of a superconducting tunnel junction. The studied devices combine small-scale tunnel contacts working as thermometers as well as larger electrodes that provide a proof-of-principle active {em cooling} of the electron distribution in the nanowire. A peak refrigeration of about $delta T = 10,{rm mK}$ is achieved at a bath temperature $T_{bath}approx250-350,{rm mK}$ in our prototype devices. This method opens important perspectives for the investigation of thermoelectric effects in semiconductor nanostructures and for nanoscale refrigeration.
We theoretically investigate heat transport in temperature-biased Josephson tunnel junctions in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field. In full analogy with the Josephson critical current, the phase-dependent component of the heat flux through the junction displays coherent diffraction. Thermal transport is analyzed in three prototypical junction geometries highlighting their main differences. Notably, minimization of the Josephson coupling energy requires the quantum phase difference across the junction to undergo pi-slips in suitable intervals of magnetic flux. An experimental setup suited to detect thermal diffraction is proposed and analyzed.
When biased at a voltage just below a superconductors energy gap, a tunnel junction between this superconductor and a normal metal cools the latter. While the study of such devices has long been focussed to structures of submicron size and consequently cooling power in the picoWatt range, we have led a thorough study of devices with a large cooling power up to the nanoWatt range. Here we describe how their performance can be optimized by using a quasi-particle drain and tuning the cooling junctions tunnel barrier.
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