Nanoscale interaction layer at the interface between Al films and SiO2 substrates of Al/AlOx/Al Josephson tunnel junctions

An interaction layer is found at the Al/SiO2 interface in Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions grown on SiO2 substrates. The amorphous intermixing layer has an average thickness of about 5 nm. We present the detailed structure of this interfacial layer as determined by transmission electron microscopy. The layer contains alumina with aluminum being octahedrally coordinated according to electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis rather than tetrahedrally coordinated, where the latter coordination is the most common type in amorphous alumina. Depth profiles of the Al-O and Si-O bonding characteristics were also investigated using energy loss near edge structure

Are pinholes the cause of excess current in superconducting tunnel junctions? A study of Andreev current in highly resistive junctions

In highly resistive superconducting tunnel junctions, excess subgap current is usually observed and is often attributed to microscopic "pinholes" in the tunnel barrier. We have studied the subgap current in superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) and superconductor-insulator-normal-metal (SIN) junctions. In Al/AlOx/Al junctions, we observed a decrease of 2 orders of magnitude in the current upon the transition from the SIS to the SIN regime, where it then matched theory. In Al/AlOx/Cu junctions, we also observed generic features of coherent diffusive Andreev transport in a junction with a homogenous barrier. We use the quasiclassical Keldysh-Green function theory to quantify single- and two-particle tunneling and find good agreement over 2 orders of magnitude in transparency. We argue that our observations rule out pinholes as the origin of the excess current.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Direct observation of the thickness distribution of ultra thin AlOx barriers in Al/AlOx/Al Josephson junctions

We have directly measured the thickness distribution of the tunnel barriers in state-of-the-art Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions. From the distribution we can conclude that less than 10% of the junction area dominates the electron tunnelling. The barriers have been studied by transmission electron microscopy, specifically using atomic resolution annular dark field (ADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging. The direct observation of the local barrier thickness shows a Gaussian distribution of the barrier thickness variation along the junction, from ~1 to ~2nm. We have investigated how the thickness distribution varies with oxygen pressure (Po) and oxidation time (to) and we find, in agreement with resistance measurements, that an increased to has a larger impact on barrier thickness and its uniformity compared to an increased Po

Improvement of chip design to reduce resonances in subgap regime of Josephson junctions

Excess current peaks in the IV curves of SIS Josephson junctions have been observed by some groups [1–3]. These peaks have the shape of a resonance as a function of voltage. The resonances appear in the subgap regime of the junctions and the subgap current (leakage current) is concealed. The positions of the resonances do not change as a magnetic field is applied to the junctions, but their amplitude decreases when the supercurrent is suppressed. We have measured the subgap current of Al/AlOx/Al junctions and we show that these resonances are due to resonant modes in the chip design which are excited by the ac-Josephson effect. We present a chip design that decreases the amplitude of the resonances to a such degree that the subgap current is quantifiable