Josephson Junctions with Artificial Superparamagnetic Barrier: A Promising Avenue for Nanoscale Magnetometry

Ivan P. Nevirkovets; Mikhail A. Belogolovskii; John B. Ketterson

doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.14.014092

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Josephson Junctions with Artificial Superparamagnetic Barrier: A Promising Avenue for Nanoscale Magnetometry

Ivan P. Nevirkovets, Mikhail A. Belogolovskii, John B. Ketterson

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.14.014092 · Physical Review Applied

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Abstract

In this work, we realize a physical system—nanoengineered singly connected Josephson junction with a periodic superparamagnetic Ni/Al multilayer—that manifests supercurrent-versus-magnetic field response typical of a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID); however, unlike a SQUID, which involves a superconducting loop occupying significant space, our lumped device is more suitable for miniaturization. In addition, we show that it exhibits enhanced magnetic field sensitivity as compared with conventional superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson junctions. SQUID-like oscillatory response to external magnetic fields, analogous to the two-slit optical interference, is explained in terms of the dominance of Andreev bound states localized at the barrier edges in the comparatively thick and strongly anisotropic weak links. Our results may lead to significant advancement in development of nanoscale magnetic sensing techniques applicable to individual molecules or magnetic nanoparticles.

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Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
Nb Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	9	Pressure not reported	onset