390–480 GHz photon-assisted tunneling steps generated by parallel Josephson tunnel junction arrays

Author

Boussaha, F. ; Féret, A. ; Chaumont, C. ; Pelay, L. ; Batrung, M. ; Lecomte, B. ; Salez, M. ; Bouville, D. ; Dauplay, F. ; Krieg, J.M. ; Beaudin, G. ; Lapierre, L.

Author_Institution

LERMA, Obs. de Paris, Paris, France

fYear

2010

fDate

5-10 Sept. 2010

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

We report on the first direct detection of submillimeter waves emitted by small parallel tunnel junction arrays. The arrays made up of 10 and 20 Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb junctions of 6 μm² is integrated and coupled in RF to Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb twin junction-based detector by a microstrip/slotline transition. The detector´s I-V curve exhibits clearly photonassisted steps when the array is biased on the corresponding Josephson resonance at 390 and 480 GHz. These results are of particular significance in the light of previous work done on this type of devices. The arrays are specially suited for applications such as clock for RSFQ electronics or as local oscillator for THz superconducting integrated receivers.

Keywords

Josephson effect; aluminium; aluminium compounds; microstrip transitions; niobium; submillimetre wave detectors; superconducting arrays; superconducting junction devices; type II superconductors; I-V curve; Josephson resonance; Nb-Al-AlO-Nb; RSFQ electronics; THz superconducting integrated receivers; frequency 390 GHz to 480 GHz; local oscillator; microstrip-slotline transition; parallel Josephson tunnel junction arrays; photon-assisted steps; photon-assisted tunneling steps; small parallel tunnel junction arrays; submillimeter wave direct detection; twin junction-based detector; Josephson junctions; Junctions; Magnetic fields; Microstrip; Mixers; Niobium; Resonant frequency;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Infrared Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz), 2010 35th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Rome

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-6655-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIMW.2010.5612942

Filename

5612942