Josephson junctions defined by a nanoplough

Abstract

We define superconducting constrictions by ploughing a deposited Aluminum film with a scanning probe microscope. The microscope tip is modified by electron beam deposition to form a nano-plough of diamond-like hardness what allows the definition of highly transparent Josephson junctions. Additionally a dc-SQUID is fabricated in order to verify the junctions behaviour. The devices are easily integrated in mesoscopic devices as local radiation sources and can be used as tunable on-chip millimeter wave sources.

Invited Review Electronic properties of nanostructures defined in Ga[Al]As heterostructures by local oxidation

“…Already in 1987, McCord and Pease demonstrated that a calcium fluoride film can be mechanically scratched with an SPM tip, resulting in 360 nm wide lines [8]. Later, amazing nanodevices were fabricated by scratching [9][10][11][12]. Closely related to this method is the mechanical scratching of a resist layer, followed by a subsequent etching step [9,13].…”

Niobium and niobium nitride SQUIDs based on anodized nanobridges made with an atomic force microscope

“…Another technology is given by the local electrochemical oxidation of the surface using a voltage biased tip [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this paper, we will focus on this latter technique although SQUIDs have been successfully obtained using the former one [6].…”

“…As an example, one can cite the tip indentation patterning that takes advantage of the local tip-surface mechanical interaction leading to a surface scratching [4][5][6]). Another technology is given by the local electrochemical oxidation of the surface using a voltage biased tip [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Nanostructural analysis by atomic force microscopy followed by light microscopy on the same archival slide

“…AFM can also be applied to manipulate, especially cut samples at nanometric scale (Irmer et al, 1998;Jin and Unertl, 1992;Magno and Bennet, 1997;Sumomogi et al, 1994;Thalhammer et al, 1997;Yu et al, 2005). Light microscopy is affected by limited resolution, which imposes undesirable restrictions to research activities (Stanislav, 2005).…”