Bi-2212 Mesa Research Articles

High-Tc superconducting THz emitters fabricated by wet etching

We studied the etching of small crystals of the high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) with various dilute compositions of hydrochloric and nitric acids. A particular mixture of those acids was chosen to simultaneously fabricate multiple rectangular stand-alone Bi2212 mesa structures from a large, doubly-cleaved and doubly metallic-coated single crystal. The radiation characteristics of these devices were found to be very similar to stand-alone devices fabricated previously using dry-etching techniques. The greatly reduced time and cost of fabrication of stand-alone Bi2212 devices using our wet-etching technique should facilitate the mass production of a large number of identical stand-alone devices from a large single-crystalline Bi2212 substrate.

Thermal imaging of Bi2212 THz oscillator

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) mesas are promising candidates for THz oscillators, which can fill the frequency range around “THz gap”. However, it is known that Bi2212 mesas show self-heating effects (hot spots) when the current is passed along the c-axis due to the low thermal conductivity in this direction. Although several previous studies reported the relation of the hot spot and THz emission, consistent answer has not been obtained yet. In order to address this issue, imaging of temperature distributions on Bi2212 mesas is expected to be very effective. Here, we set up fluorescent thermal imaging (FTI) method for visualizing the surface temperature distribution on the Bi2212 mesa. We have succeeded in observing hot spots in the Bi2212 mesa with high spatial resolution.

Area dependence and influence of crystal inhomogeneity on superconducting properties of Bi2212 mesa structures

The rapid increase in applications of terahertz waves requires new techniques to obtain continuous wave terahertz sources. Mesa structures fabricated from high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystal have been observed as an intense, coherent, continuous electromagnetic wave source in the terahertz (THz) frequency region. However, in order to produce coherent radiation with high applicable power, we need large mesa structures that enter a collective electromagnetic state in which their oscillations are largely synchronized in phase. On the other hand, large mesa structures cause a heating problem. In this study, we report on the critical current density dependence of mesa area and the crystal inhomogeneity to understand heating problems in large area mesas for terahertz radiation. Since the doping dependence of Bi2212 is an important parameter, the as-grown Bi2212 crystals were heat-treated at various temperatures under vacuum conditions. We have fabricated triple mesa structures from Bi2212 single crystal using e-beam lithography and argon ion beam etching techniques with same area and with different area on the same chip. We investigated and compared characteristics of triple mesas which are on the same chip and next to each other. In this way, we searched the crystal inhomogeneity in triple mesa structures and studied the critical current density dependence of mesa area to obtain high emission power for the THz radiation. Our experimental results clearly show that the Josephson critical current density is decreasing when the area of mesa is increasing.

Emission of the THz waves from large area mesas of superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ by the injection of spin polarized current

Rectangular Au/Co/Au/Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) mesa structures with large areas and high thicknesses were fabricated on as-grown Bi2212 single crystals in order to obtain small critical current from as-grown mesas by the injection of spin polarized current and so eliminate the adjustment of doping level for successful THz emission. We have performed c-axis resistance versus temperature (R–T), current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and bolometer measurements. It is the first time that THz emission has been observed from as-grown mesas due to injection of spin polarized current.

Size-dependent transformation from triangular to rectangular fluxon lattice in Bi-2212 mesa structures

We present a systematic study of the field and size dependencies of the static fluxon lattice configuration in Bi-2212 intrinsic Josephson junctions and investigate conditions needed for the formation of a rectangular fluxon lattice required for a high power flux-flow oscillator. We fabricate junctions of different sizes from Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x and Bi1.75Pb0.25Sr2CaCu2O8+x single crystals using the mesa technique and study the Fraunhofer-like modulation of the critical current with magnetic field. The modulation can be divided into three regions depending on the formed fluxon lattice. At low field, no periodic modulation and no ordered fluxon lattice is found. At intermediate fields, modulation with half-flux quantum periodicity due to a triangular lattice is seen. At high fields, the rectangular lattice gives integer flux quantum periodicity. We present these fields in dependence on the sample size and conclude that the transitions between the regions depend only on λJ(Jc) and occur at about 0.4 and 1.3 fluxons per λJ, respectively. These numbers are universal for the measured samples and are consistent with performed numerical simulations.

Interferometer measurements of terahertz waves from Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d mesas

We fabricated rectangular mesa structures of superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d (Bi2212) using e-beam lithography and Ar ion beam etching techniques for terahertz (THz) emission. c-axis resistance versus temperature (R–T), current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and bolometric THz power measurements were performed to characterize Bi2212 mesas. The emission frequency of mesas was determined using a Michelson interferometer setup which also demonstrates polarized emission. Interference patterns of THz radiation from Bi2212 mesas were detected by various detectors such as a liquid helium cooled silicon composite bolometer, a Golay cell and a pyroelectric detector. An emitted power as high as 0.06 mW was detected from Bi2212 mesas. For the first time, most of the pumped power was extracted as THz emission from a Bi2212 mesa. The radiation at 0.54 THz was detected using the Michelson interferometric setup.

Comment on “Counterintuitive consequence of heating in strongly-driven intrinsic junctions ofBi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δmesas”

In a recent paper [Phys.Rev.B 81, 224518 (2010)], C. Kurter et al, analyzed the effect of strong self-heating in large-area Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (Bi-2212) mesa structures. They conclude that $dI/dV$ conductance peaks in their mesas occur when mesas are heated to the superconducting critical temperature $T_c$. Further on they extrapolate this statement for all mesas, including much smaller and much better thermally anchored mesas used in Intrinsic Tunnelling Spectroscopy (ITS). Here I show that their conclusion does not hold neither for previously reported data, nor even for their own mesas; the very remote extrapolation to ITS is invalid. I also point out a number of inconsistencies and misleading references.

Interaction between flux-flow and phonon resonances in small Bi-2212 mesa structures

Resonant phenomena are important for the use of intrinsic Josephson junction as THz-oscillators, due to the decreased linewidth of emitted radiation when biasing the junctions near a resonance. We perform a detailed study of flux-flow characteristics and phonon resonances in small Bi(Pb)2Sr2CaCu2O8+x mesa structures. Magnetic field dependence of flux-flow characteristics up to 17 T and temperature and magnetic field dependence of phonon resonances at temperatures from 2 K to 80 K and in fields up to 15 T are analyzed. A shift of the phonon resonances in the presence of external magnetic fields and an interaction between flux-flow and phonon resonances are observed.

Collective responses of Bi-2212 stacked junction to 100 GHz microwave radiation under magnetic field oriented along the c-axis

We studied a response of Bi-2212 mesa type structures to 100 GHz microwave radiation. We found that applying magnetic field of about 0.1 T across the layers enables to observe collective Shapiro step response corresponding to a synchronization of all 50 intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJ) of the mesa. At high microwave power we observed up to 10th harmonics of the fundamental Shapiro step. Besides, we found microwave induced flux-flow step position of which is proportional to the square root of microwave power and that can exceed at high enough powers 1 THz operating frequency of IJJ oscillations.

In situMeasurement of Self-Heating in Intrinsic Tunneling Spectroscopy

Using advanced sample engineering we performed simultaneous measurements of interlayer tunneling characteristics and in situ monitoring of temperature in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8 + delta) (Bi-2212) mesas. Together with a systematic study of size dependence of interlayer tunneling, this allowed unambiguous discrimination between artifacts of self-heating and gaps in the electronic spectra of Bi-2212. Such a confident spectroscopic information, which is not affected by self-heating or surface deterioration, was obtained for the first time for a high-T(c) superconductor. We also derived general expressions and formulated main principles of self-heating valid for a large variety of materials.

Properties of small HTSC mesa structures: common problems of interlayer tunneling

I analyze common problems of interlayer tunneling in Bi-2212 mesa structures, such as self-heating and non-uniformity of junctions. Numerical simulations have shown that self-heating does not mask the temperature dependence of the superconducting gap. Major problems can be avoided by decreasing mesa sizes.

Flux-flow branches and Fiske steps in Bi-2212 mesas

We have experimentally observed Fiske steps and splitting of flux-flow branches in IVC's of Bi-2212 mesa structures. Numerical analysis showed that the splitting is due to existence of multiple quasi-equilibrium fluxon modes in the dynamic state of intrinsic stacked Josephson junctions.