La1.85Sr0.15CuO4−δ bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions

Abstract

We have investigated La1.85Sr0.15CuO4−δ grain boundary Josephson junctions (GBJs) fabricated on [001] tilt SrTiO3 bicrystals with misorientation angles of 24° and 36.8°. The resistive transition and the current–voltage characteristics of the GBJs are found to be close to those predicted by the resistively shunted junction (RSJ) model. Their product of the critical current density, Jc, and the normal resistance times area ρn, scales proportional to about (Jc)q with q=0.5–0.6 similar to what is found for YBa2Cu3O7−δ GBJs. By analyzing Fiske resonances the Swihart velocity of the GBJs and the ab-plane London penetration depth of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4−δ are obtained to c̄=2.5×106 m/s and λL=200 nm at 4.2 K, respectively.