NbN/AIN/NbN Tunnel Junctions Applied as Terahertz SIS Mixers

Zhen WANG; Yoshinori UZAWA; Akira KAWAKAMI

NbN/AIN/NbN Tunnel Junctions Applied as Terahertz SIS Mixers

Zhen WANG, Yoshinori UZAWA, Akira KAWAKAMI

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We report on progress in the development of high-current-density all-NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A very high current density up to 54 kA/cm2, roughly an order of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions with a thin aluminum nitride (AIN) tunnel barrier. Even though the junctions have a very high current density, they showed high-quality junction characteristics with a large gap voltage, sharp quasipartical current rise, and small subgap leakage current. The junctions also exhibited good Josephson tunneling behavior, excellent terahertz response, and sensitive heterodyne mixing properties. NbN/AIN/NbN tunnel junctions were integrated with a NbN thin-film antenna to investigate the terahertz responses and the heterodyne mixing properties in a quasioptical mixer testing system. Photon-assisted tunneling steps were clearly observed on the I-V curve with irradiation up to 1 THz, and low-noise heterodyne mixing was demonstrated in the 300-GHz band.

Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics Vol.E80-C No.10 pp.1258-1264

Publication Date: 1997/10/25

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Type of Manuscript: Special Section INVITED PAPER (Special Issue on Basic Properties and Applications of Superconductive Electron Devices)

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Zhen WANG, Yoshinori UZAWA, Akira KAWAKAMI, "NbN/AIN/NbN Tunnel Junctions Applied as Terahertz SIS Mixers" in IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics, vol. E80-C, no. 10, pp. 1258-1264, October 1997, doi: .
Abstract: We report on progress in the development of high-current-density all-NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A very high current density up to 54 kA/cm2, roughly an order of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions with a thin aluminum nitride (AIN) tunnel barrier. Even though the junctions have a very high current density, they showed high-quality junction characteristics with a large gap voltage, sharp quasipartical current rise, and small subgap leakage current. The junctions also exhibited good Josephson tunneling behavior, excellent terahertz response, and sensitive heterodyne mixing properties. NbN/AIN/NbN tunnel junctions were integrated with a NbN thin-film antenna to investigate the terahertz responses and the heterodyne mixing properties in a quasioptical mixer testing system. Photon-assisted tunneling steps were clearly observed on the I-V curve with irradiation up to 1 THz, and low-noise heterodyne mixing was demonstrated in the 300-GHz band.
URL: https://globals.ieice.org/en_transactions/electronics/10.1587/e80-c_10_1258/_p

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@ARTICLE{e80-c_10_1258,
author={Zhen WANG, Yoshinori UZAWA, Akira KAWAKAMI, },
journal={IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics},
title={NbN/AIN/NbN Tunnel Junctions Applied as Terahertz SIS Mixers},
year={1997},
volume={E80-C},
number={10},
pages={1258-1264},
abstract={We report on progress in the development of high-current-density all-NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A very high current density up to 54 kA/cm2, roughly an order of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions with a thin aluminum nitride (AIN) tunnel barrier. Even though the junctions have a very high current density, they showed high-quality junction characteristics with a large gap voltage, sharp quasipartical current rise, and small subgap leakage current. The junctions also exhibited good Josephson tunneling behavior, excellent terahertz response, and sensitive heterodyne mixing properties. NbN/AIN/NbN tunnel junctions were integrated with a NbN thin-film antenna to investigate the terahertz responses and the heterodyne mixing properties in a quasioptical mixer testing system. Photon-assisted tunneling steps were clearly observed on the I-V curve with irradiation up to 1 THz, and low-noise heterodyne mixing was demonstrated in the 300-GHz band.},
keywords={},
doi={},
ISSN={},
month={October},}

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TY - JOUR
TI - NbN/AIN/NbN Tunnel Junctions Applied as Terahertz SIS Mixers
T2 - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SP - 1258
EP - 1264
AU - Zhen WANG
AU - Yoshinori UZAWA
AU - Akira KAWAKAMI
PY - 1997
DO -
JO - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SN -
VL - E80-C
IS - 10
JA - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
Y1 - October 1997
AB - We report on progress in the development of high-current-density all-NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A very high current density up to 54 kA/cm2, roughly an order of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions with a thin aluminum nitride (AIN) tunnel barrier. Even though the junctions have a very high current density, they showed high-quality junction characteristics with a large gap voltage, sharp quasipartical current rise, and small subgap leakage current. The junctions also exhibited good Josephson tunneling behavior, excellent terahertz response, and sensitive heterodyne mixing properties. NbN/AIN/NbN tunnel junctions were integrated with a NbN thin-film antenna to investigate the terahertz responses and the heterodyne mixing properties in a quasioptical mixer testing system. Photon-assisted tunneling steps were clearly observed on the I-V curve with irradiation up to 1 THz, and low-noise heterodyne mixing was demonstrated in the 300-GHz band.
ER -