Stacked Josephson junction device composed of oxide superconductor material

Abstract: A stacked Josephson junction device includes a pair of oxide superconductor layers and a non-superconductor layer formed between the pair of oxide superconductor layers. The oxide superconductor layers are composed of a compound oxide having the composition expressed by the general formula: LnBa₂Cu₃O v (where Ln is Y or rare earth element and 6 < v ≦ 7). The non-superconductor layer is composed of a chemical compound having the composition expressed by the general formula: Bi₂Y x Sr y Cu z O w (where x, y, z and w indicate ratio of components 0 ≦ x ≦ 2, 1 ≦ y ≦ 3, 1 ≦ z ≦ 3, 6 ≦ w ≦ 13.

Description: SPECIFICATION Background of the Invention Field of the invention The present invention relates to a Josephson junction device which can be used in a Josephson computer, a mixer, a sensor and others, and more specifically to a stacked Josephson junction device composed of a non-superconductor layer sandwiched between a pair of superconductor layers each formed of an oxide superconductor material. Description of related art A Josephson junction can be realized in various structures. Among the various structures, the most preferable structure in practice is a stacked junction realized by a thin non-superconductor layer sandwiched between a pair of superconductors. In general, the Josephson junction is reduced into practice in the form of a Josephson junction device, and a stacked Josephson junction device is constituted of a first superconductor thin layer, a non-superconductor thin layer and a second superconductor thin layer stacked in the named order, such as described in the Patent Application EP-A-0 342 038 and in the Appl. Phys. Lett, vol 55, No19, 6 November 1989, pages 2032- 2034. In the above mentioned Josephson junction device, each of the superconductor layers can be formed of any superconductor material, for example, metal type superconductor materials, and so-called compound oxide superconductor materials, and the non-superconductor layer can be formed of a material selected from a group consisting of insulator materials, semiconductor materials and normal conductor materials, dependently upon use of a superconducting device. Lately, in the stacked Josephson junction devices, various attempts have been made which use an oxide superconductor material for each superconductor layers and an oxide typified by MgO and ZrO 2 for the non-superconductor layer. In the stacked Josephson junction, however, a thickness of the non-superconductor layer is determined by a property of the non-superconductor layer itself and a coherence length of the superconductor. For example, if the coherence length of the superconductor is short, the thickness of the non-superconductor layer must be made small. On the other hand, in general, oxide superconductor materials have a very short coherence length (several angstroms in a c -axis direction and several tens angstroms in a direction perpendicular to the c -axis). Therefore, if the non-superconductor layer is formed of an insulator material, a thickness of a non-superconductor material layer must have been very thin so that it never exceed about 5 mm (50 Å) at maximum. Even in the case that the non-superconductor layer is formed of a normal conductor material, a thickness of a non-superconductor material layer must also have been very thin. In the conventional stacked Josephson junction having each superconductor layer formed of the oxide superconductor material, however, the non-superconductor layer is not uniform, and therefore, it has been difficult to obtain a good excellent junction property. The reason for this is considered to be that when a thin layer of the oxide such as MgO or ZrO 2 used for forming the non-superconductor layer is deposited on the oxide superconductor, the oxide grows in the form of islands. The non-superconductor layer grown in the form of islands has pin holes and different in thickness from one location to another, which give a significant adverse effect to the junction property. Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stacked Josephson junction device having superconductor layers each composed of an oxide superconductor material, which has overcome the above mentioned defects in the prior art and which has an excellent junction property. The above and other objects of the present invention are achieved in accordance with the present-invention by a stacked Josephson junction device including a pair of oxide superconductor layers and a non-superconductor layer formed between the pair of oxide superconductor layers, the oxide superconductor layers being formed of a superconducting compound oxide having the composition expressed by the general formula: LnBa 2 Cu 3 O v (where Ln is Y or rare earth element and 6<v<7) and the non-superconductor layer essentially consisting of chemical compound having the composition expressed by the general formula: Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w (where x, y, z and w indicate ratio of components 0 ≤ x ≤ 2, 1 ≤ y ≤ 3, 1 ≤ z ≤ 3, 6 ≤ w ≤ 13. As seen from the above, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention includes the non-superconductor layer formed of the compound expressed by Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w , which has the following advantages: (1) It is a two-dimensionally layered material. Therefore, when it is deposited to form a thin layer, it will easily grow in two dimensions with forming no island. (2) It has a lattice constant very analogous to the oxide superconductor expressed by LnBa 2 Cu 3 O v . (3) As an electric property, it can be freely brought to any of a normal conductor, a semiconductor or an insulator. Therefore, it is possible to form an SNS(superconductor-normal conductor-superconductor) device, and an SIS(superconductor-insulator-superconductor) device. On the other hand, the electric property of the Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w compound is dependent upon a manufacturing condition: A general inclination is that in the case of x=0, y=2 and z=1, it becomes the normal conductor, and if "x", "y" and "z" are apart from the above values, the semiconductor property and the insulator property appears. Particularly, the larger the value of "x" becomes, the more the insulator property is enhanced. The above mentioned features are very effective in forming the Josephson junction by using the oxide superconductor. As mentioned above, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention composed of an oxide superconductor material has a construction in which the non-superconductor layer of the above mentioned compound is laid on a first oxide superconductor layer, and a second oxide superconductor layer is laid on the non-superconductor layer of the above mentioned compound. In the present technology, it is said to be difficult to deposit the oxide superconductor unless an appropriate substrate is used. Therefore, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention is formed on a substrate. Preferably, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention is formed on a single crystal substrate, exemplified by MgO(100) and MgO(110), and SrTiO 3 (100) and SrTiO 3 (110). If the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention utilizes a superconductor proximity effect, it is preferred that the compound of the non-superconductor layer has a composition exhibiting the normal conductor property or the semiconductor property. For example, the stacked Josephson junction utilizing the superconductor proximity effect can be formed in the following process: First, an epitaxial thin film of YBCO (YBa 2 Cu 3 O v ) (001) is deposited on a MgO (100) substrate. Then, the above mentioned non-superconductor compound is deposited on the YBCO thin film so as to form a non-superconductor layer having a thickness of 3 nm to 50 nm (30 Å to 500 Å) and exhibiting the normal conductor property or the semiconductor property. Furthermore, an epitaxial thin film of YBCO (YBa 2 Cu 3 O v ) (001) is deposited on the thus formed non-superconductor layer. With this, a Josephson junction device having a good characteristics can be obtained. In this process for forming the Josephson junction device, the compound expressed by Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w forming the non-superconductor layer has a tendency of a two-dimensional growth, and has a lattice constant consistent with that of YBa 2 Cu 3 O v forming the superconduction layer. Therefore, heteroepitaxy can be easily realized, which is very effective in obtain a uniform device characteristics. On the other hand, a SIS device having the Josephson junction in accordance with the present invention can be formed in the following process: First, an epitaxial thin film of YBCO (110) is deposited on a SrTiO 3 (110) substrate. Then, the above mentioned non-superconductor compound is deposited on the YBCO thin film so as to form a non-superconductor layer having a thickness of 2 nm to 6 nm (20 Å to 60 Å) and exhibiting the insulator property. Furthermore, an epitaxial thin film of YBCO (110) is heteroeptixially grown on the thus formed non-superconductor layer. In this case, since the YBCO superconductor has the coherence length on the order of 3 nm (30 Å) in a direction perpendicular to the c -axis, it is preferred to grow the superconductor layer having the c -axis in parallel to the substrate. Namely, YBCO (110) is epitaxially grown. In the case of the device utilizing the proximity effect, the epitaxial grown layer of YBCO (110) can be used. In the case of forming the Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention, each thin layer can be formed by various processes including a MBE (molecular beam epitaxy), a reactive evaporation, a sputtering, and a laser beam evaporation. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the examples explained hereinafter are only for illustration of the present invention, and therefore, it should be understood that the present invention is in no way limited to the following examples. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a diagrammatic section view illustrating one example of a Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention. Description of the Preferred embodiments Embodiment 1 Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a diagrammatic section view illustrating one example of a Josephson junction device formed in accordance with the present invention. The shown device includes a first superconductor layer 11 of YBa 2 Cu 3 O v compound oxide superconductor material formed on a MgO (100) single crystal substrate 3, a non-superconductor layer 4 of Bi 2 Sr 1.8 Cu 1.1 O w compound formed on a central portion of the first superconductor layer 11, and a second superconductor layer 12 of YBa 2 Cu 3 O v thin film formed on the non-superconductor layer 4 without directly contacting with the first superconductor layer 11. A pair of metal layers 5 and 6 are located on the second superconductor layer 12. In addition, another pair of metal layers 7 and 8 having connecting terminals 17 and 18, respectively, are provided respectively on opposite end portions of the first superconductor layer 11 on which the non-superconductor layer 4 is not formed. The metal layers 5 and 6 excluding an upper surface thereof are covered with an insulating layer 9, and metal layers 15 and 16 are formed on the insulating layer 9 so as to extend from the upper surfaces of the metal layer 5 and 6 and to be connected to connecting terminals 27 and 28 in proximity of the metal layers 7 and 8, respectively. The superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer were formed by a sputtering, and have the following thickness: First superconductor layer YBa 2 Cu 3 O v = 300 nm (3000 Å) Non-superconductor layer Bi 2 Sr 1.8 Cu 1.1 O w = 20 nm (200 Å) Second superconductor layer YBa 2 Cu 3 O v = 200 nm (2000 Å) When each of the superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer was formed, a RHEED pattern was observed. All of the first and second superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer showed a streak pattern, and therefore, an epitaxial growth of a (001) plane could be confirmed. In addition, both of the first and second superconductor layers exhibited a superconduction critical temperature of 87 K. On the other hand, the non-superconductor layer of Bi 2 Sr 1.8 Cu 1.1 O w exhibited a semiconductor property. A current-voltage characteristics of the above mentioned Josephson junction device was measured at a temperature of 60K. When a microwave of 84 GHz is irradiated, a clear Shapiro step was observed, and therefore, it could be ascertained that the device shows the SNS characteristics. Embodiment 2 Superconductor layers and a non-superconductor layer were formed by using a substrate 3 formed of a SrTiO 3 (110) single crystal and by use of a MBE process, so that a Josephson junction device have the same structure as that of the Embodiment 1 is formed. Similarly to the Embodiment 1, the first and second superconductor layers are formed of YBa 2 Cu 3 O v , and the non-superconductor layer is formed of a compound expressed by Bi 2 Y 1 Sr 1.2 Cu 2.8 O w . The three layers have the following thickness: First superconductor layer YBa 2 Cu 3 O v = 300 nm (3000 Å) Non-superconductor layer Bi 2 Y 1 Sr 1.2 Cu 2.8 O w = 4 nm (40 Å) Second superconductor layer YBa 2 Cu 3 O v = 200 nm (2000 Å) When each of the superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer was formed, a RHEED pattern was observed. In the first and second superconductor layers, an epitaxial growth of a (110) plane could be confirmed, and in the non-superconductor layer, an epitaxial growth of a (001) plane could be ascertained. In addition, both of the first and second superconductor layers exhibited a superconduction critical temperature of 88 K. A current-voltage characteristics of the above mentioned Josephson junction device was measured at a temperature of 40K. A hysteresis curve showing the SIS junction was obtained. As seen from the above description, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that the non-superconductor layer includes a chemical compound having the composition expressed by the general formula: Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w (where x, y, z and w indicate ratio of components 0 ≤ x ≤ 2, 1 ≤ y ≤ 3, 1 ≤ z ≤ 3, 6 ≤ w ≤ 13. With this feature, the stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention has an excellent characteristics in comparison with the conventional ones. The stacked Josephson junction device in accordance with the present invention can be utilized in a Josephson computer and as a mixer and a sensor. The invention has thus been shown and described with reference to the specific embodiments. However, it should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the details of the illustrated structures but changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A stacked Josephson junction device including a pair of oxide superconductor layers (11,12) and a non-superconductor layer (4) formed between the pair of oxide superconductor layers, the oxide superconductor layers (11,12) being formed of a superconducting compound oxide having the composition expressed by the general formula: LnBa 2 Cu 3 O v (where Ln is Y or rare earth element and 6<v<7) and the non-superconductor layer (4) essentially consisting of chemical compound having the composition expressed by the general formula: Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w (where x, y, z and w indicate ratio of components 0 ≤ x ≤ 2, 1 ≤ y ≤ 3, 1 ≤ z ≤ 3, 6 ≤ w ≤ 13). A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 1 wherein said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w has a composition ratio x : y : z to the effect that said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w non-superconductor layer (4) exhibits a normal conductor property or a semiconductor property, and wherein said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w has a thickness in the range of 3 nm to 50 nm (30 Å to 500 Å), so that a SNS (superconductor-normal conductor-superconductor) type Josephson device is formed. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 2 wherein said composition ratio "x" in said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w is 0. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 2 wherein said composition ratio x : y : z in said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w is 0 : 2 : 1. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 2 wherein said composition ratio x : y : z in said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w is 0 : 1.8 : 1.1. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 1 wherein said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w has a composition ratio x : y : z to the effect that said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w non-superconductor layer (4) exhibits an insulator property, and wherein said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w has a thickness in the range of 2 nm to 6 nm (20 Å to 60 Å), so that a SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) type Josephson device is formed. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 6 wherein said composition ratio "x" in said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w is 1. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 6 wherein said composition ratio x : y : z in said Bi 2 Y x Sr y Cu z O w is 1 : 1.2 : 2.8 A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 1 wherein one of said pair of oxide superconductor layers (11,12) is formed on a MgO(100) single crystal substrate, a MgO(110) single crystal substrate, a SrTiO 3 (100) single crystal substrate, or a SrTiO 3 (110) single crystal substrate. A stacked Josephson junction device claimed in Claim 1 wherein a first superconductor layer (11) of said pair of oxide superconductor layers is formed on a substrate (3), said non-superconductor layer (4) is formed on a central convex portion of said first superconductor layer, and a second superconductor layer (12) of said pair of oxide superconductor layers is formed on said non-superconductor layer without directly contacting with said first superconductor layer, and wherein first and second metal electrodes (5 and 6) are located on said second superconductor layer separately from each other, and third and fourth metal electrodes (7 and 8) are provided respectively on opposite end portions of said first superconductor layer on which said non-superconductor layer is not formed.

Inventors: HARADA KEIZO, ITOZAKI HIDEO, HARADA, KEIZO, ITOZAKI, HIDEO
Applicants: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: H01L39
IPC codes: H01L39