Search results for "Tunnel junction"
showing 10 items of 75 documents
Properties of native ultrathin aluminium oxide tunnel barriers
2003
We have investigated planar metal–insulator–metal tunnel junctions with aluminium oxide as the dielectricum. These oxide barriers were grown on an aluminium electrode in pure oxygen at room temperature till saturation. By applying the Simmons model we derived discrete widths of the tunnelling barrier, separated by Δs ≈ 0.38 nm. This corresponds to the addition of single layers of oxygen atoms. The minimum thickness of s0 ≈ 0.54 nm is then due to a double layer of oxygen. We found a strong and systematic dependence of the barrier height on the barrier thickness. Breakdown fields up to 5 GV m−1 were reached. They decreased strongly with increasing barrier thickness. Electrical breakdown could…
Magnetic tunneling junctions with the Heusler compound
2005
Abstract Certain Heusler phases belong to the materials which are discussed as potential half metals. Here, results of tunneling experiments with the full-Heusler alloy Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al are presented. The Heusler alloy is used as an electrode of magnetic tunneling junctions. The junctions are deposited by magnetron DC sputtering using shadow mask techniques with AlO x as a barrier and cobalt as counter electrode. Measurements of the magnetoresistive differential conductivity in a temperature range between 4 and 300 K are shown. An analysis of the barrier properties applying the Simmons model to the bias dependent junction conductivity is performed. VSM measurements were carried out to …
The promise of spintronics for unconventional computing
2021
Novel computational paradigms may provide the blueprint to help solving the time and energy limitations that we face with our modern computers, and provide solutions to complex problems more efficiently (with reduced time, power consumption and/or less device footprint) than is currently possible with standard approaches. Spintronics offers a promising basis for the development of efficient devices and unconventional operations for at least three main reasons: (i) the low-power requirements of spin-based devices, i.e., requiring no standby power for operation and the possibility to write information with small dynamic energy dissipation, (ii) the strong nonlinearity, time nonlocality, and/o…
Direct observation of second-order atom tunnelling
2007
Tunnelling of material particles through a classically impenetrable barrier constitutes one of the hallmark effects of quantum physics. When interactions between the particles compete with their mobility through a tunnel junction, intriguing novel dynamical behaviour can arise where particles do not tunnel independently. In single-electron or Bloch transistors, for example, the tunnelling of an electron or Cooper pair can be enabled or suppressed by the presence of a second charge carrier due to Coulomb blockade. Here we report on the first direct and time-resolved observation of correlated tunnelling of two interacting atoms through a barrier in a double well potential. We show that for we…
Coulomb blockade nanothermometer
1998
Reliable thermometry is normally based on commercial secondary sensors which are factory calibrated. Primary thermometers exist, too, but their use is limited because of intrinsic slowness, complex instrumentation, or inconvenient installation at the desired location. We have found that arrays of nanoscale tunnel junctions exhibit properties which are very suitable for primary and secondary cryogenic thermometry. Temperature range of this Coulomb blockade thermometer (CBT) extends over about two decades for one sensor and the mean temperature is lithographically adjustable. We have studied the performance of the CBT sensors at very low temperatures where the minimum temperature is limited b…
Superconducting tunnel junction fabrication on three-dimensional topography via direct laser writing
2020
Superconducting junctions are widely used in multitude of applications ranging from quantum information science and sensing to solid-state cooling. Traditionally, such devices must be fabricated on flat substrates using standard lithographic techniques. In this study, we demonstrate a highly versatile method that allows for superconducting junctions to be fabricated on a more complex topography. It is based on maskless direct laser writing (DLW) two-photon lithography, which allows writing in 3D space. We show that high-quality normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions can be fabricated on top of a 20 $\mu$m tall three-dimensional topography. Combined with more advanced r…
Charge transport through spin-polarized tunnel junction between two spin-split superconductors
2019
We investigate transport properties of junctions between two spin-split superconductors linked by a spin-polarized tunneling barrier. The spin-splitting fields in the superconductors (S) are induced by adjacent ferromagnetic insulating (FI) layers with arbitrary magnetization. The aim of this study is twofold: On the one hand, we present a theoretical framework based on the quasiclassical Green's functions to calculate the Josephson and quasiparticle current through the junctions in terms of the different parameters characterizing it. Our theory predicts qualitative new results for the tunneling differential conductance, $dI/dV$, when the spin-splitting fields of the two superconductors are…
Very large thermophase in ferromagnetic josephson junctions
2014
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Adiabatic transport of Cooper pairs in arrays of Josephson junctions
1999
We have developed a quantitative theory of Cooper pair pumping in gated one-dimensional arrays of Josephson junctions. The pumping accuracy is limited by quantum tunneling of Cooper pairs out of the propagating potential well and by direct supercurrent flow through the array. Both corrections decrease exponentially with the number N of junctions in the array, but give a serious limitation of accuracy for any practical array. The supercurrent at resonant gate voltages decreases with N only as sin(v/N)/N, where v is the Josephson phase difference across the array.
Interaction-free measurements with superconducting qubits
2008
An interaction-free measurement protocol is described for a quantum circuit consisting of a superconducting qubit and a read-out Josephson junction. By measuring the state of the qubit one can ascertain the presence of a current pulse through the circuit at a previous time without any energy exchange between the qubit and the pulse.