Fabrication of Nb-based superconducting single electron transistor

Abstract We have fabricated Nb/(Al-)AlOx/Nb junctions with a single electron transistor (SET) geometry using conventional e-beam lithographic technique. It was possible to reach a clearly defined superconducting gap of 0.75 meV as measured in the current vs. voltage (I–V) characteristic curve, which corresponds to Tc of 4.6 K . The Josephson coupling energy was comparable to the charging energy, EJ≈Ec=30– 40 μeV .