I. Oomen

Superconducting thin films of MgB2 on Si by pulsed laser deposition

Superconducting thin MgB2 films have been prepared using pulsed-laser deposition. We have studied the influences of deposition conditions such as pressure and temperature, the substrate-material, and annealing-procedures. Various approaches have been pursued to obtain the right Mg content in the film during ablation and annealing. Special care has been taken to avoid oxidation of Mg in the laser plasma and deposited film, by optimizing the background pressure of Ar gas in the deposition chamber. The annealing procedure was found to be the most critical to obtain superconducting films.

Magnesium-diboride ramp-type Josephson junctions

Josephson junctions have been realized in which two superconducting magnesium-diboride (MgB2) layers are separated by a thin MgO barrier layer, using the ramp-type configuration. Their current–voltage characteristics follow the behavior described by the resistively shunted junction model, with an excess current of about 30% of the critical current Ic. A suppression of 70% of Ic was achieved in applied magnetic fields. Shapiro steps were observed by irradiating the junctions with 10.0 GHz microwaves, and the dependence of the step height on applied rf current is well described by a current–source model. Reference samples prepared without the MgO layer showed strong-link behavior with large Ic values.

Sigma-delta A/D converter in HTS ramp edge technology

We have successfully fabricated and tested a high temperature superconducting sigma-delta A/D converter, The quantizer is a balanced comparator that has been characterized separately in two temperature regimes. The circuits have been fabricated with ramp edge junctions with a PrBaCuCaO-barrier on a buried ground plane. For the current to voltage conversion in the sigma-delta converter we fabricated a 50 mOhm resistor with an in-situ gold layer, The sigma-delta converter has been tested at an internal clock of up to 174 GHz. The signal-to-noise ratio has been measured at a relatively low frequency of 3.4 kHz and was at least 63 dB but most likely higher since the measurement was limited by the noise in the amplifiers, As a first attempt towards the development of a decimation filter we have fabricated and tested a toggle flip-flop. The toggle flip-flop has been tested successfully at 40 K up to a frequency of 33 GHz, which corresponds to 70% of the I/sub c/R/sub n/-product of a reference junction.

The road to magnesium diboride thin films, Josephson junctions and SQUIDs

The remarkably high critical temperature at which magnesium diboride (MgB2) undergoes transition to the superconducting state, Tc approx 40 K, has aroused great interest and has encouraged many groups to explore the properties and application potential of this novel superconductor. For many electronic applications and further basic studies, the availability of superconducting thin films is of great importance. Several groups have succeeded in fabricating superconducting MgB2 films. An overview of the deposition techniques for MgB2 thin film growth will be given, with a special focus on the in situ two-step process.

HTS pulse-stretcher and second order Modulator: design and first results

One of the remaining challenges in the application of superconducting electronics is the interfacing between superconducting and semiconducting environments. The voltage and speed mismatch between RSFQ pulses and semiconducting read-out electronics makes it necessary to amplify as well as stretch the RSFQ pulses. Moreover, circuits based on HTS (High Temperature Superconductor) technology are very attractive since they can operate under considerably relaxed cooling effort, which is one of the main problems with LTS (Low Temperature Superconductor) circuits. Within the European project SuperADC, a HTS second order sigma delta modulator and a pulse stretcher, used as an interface between the modulator and the first semi-conducting amplifier stage, have been designed at Twente University and will be presented here.

MgB/sub 2/ thin films and Josephson devices

Since the recent discovery of superconductivity in MgB/sub 2/, various groups worldwide have been actively studying the growth of thin films based on this material. Impressive progress has been made, but various materials science challenges are still left to be solved. Guided by our own activities in this field, and reports presented in the literature, we reflect here on those challenges and possible ways for further improvement. Being important ingredients for many electronic applications, fabrication of Josephson devices and nano-structures in MgB/sub 2/ thin films will furthermore be described.