THIN-FILM JOSEPHSON JUNCTIONS USING GETTER-SPUTTERED NIOBIUM

Thin-film niobium-niobium oxide-lead Josephson junctions were fabricated by use of getter sputtering for the Nb films, thermal oxidation of the Nb and evaporation of the Pb top films. These devices have characteristics comparable to good PbSingle Bond signPbOSingle Bond signPb devices. Temperature cycling is not harmful to the devices although some drift with time is seen in the characteristics. This drift is in the form of a conductance increase which has been measured as something between a factor of 1.1 to a factor of 20 over a period of months with the devices stored at room temperature. © 1969 The American Institute of Physics.