YBCO step-edge junctions with high<i>I</i>_c<i>R</i>_n

Abstract

Step-edge junctions represent one type of grain boundary Josephson junction employed in high-temperature superconducting junction technology. To date, the majority of results published in the literature focus on [001]-tilt grain boundary junctions (GBJs) produced using bicrystal substrates. We investigate the step morphology and YBCO (yttrium barium copper oxide) film structure of YBCO-based step-edge junctions on MgO [001] substrates which structurally resemble [100]-tilt junctions. High-resolution electron microscopy reveals a clean GBJ interface of width ∼ 1 nm and a single junction at the top edge. The dependence of the transport properties on the MgO step-edge and junction morphology is examined at 4.2 K, to enable direct comparison with results for other junction studies such as [001]-tilt and [100]-tilt junctions and building on previously published 77 K data. MgO step-edge junctions show a slower reduction in critical current density with step angle compared with [001]-tilt junctions. For optimized step parameters, transport measurements revealed large critical current and normal resistance (IcRN) products (∼3–5 mV), comparable with the best results obtained in other kinds of [100]-tilt GBJs in YBCO at 4.2 K. Junction-based devices such as SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) and THz imagers show excellent performance when MgO-based step-edge junctions are used.