Low-temperature specific heat was measured on the BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2 single crystals with critical transition temperature Tc = 20.1 K.A clear specific heat jump with the value ΔC/T|Tc ≈ 23 mJ/mol K2 was observed.In addition,a roughly linear magnetic field dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient Δγ(H) was found in the zero-temperature limit,suggesting that at least one Fermi pocket,probably the hole derivative one,was fully gapped with a small anisotropy in the present sample.A slight curvature of the curve Δγ(H) may suggest a complex gap structure(anisotropic gap or nodes) at other Fermi surfaces.
Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions with controllable critical current density Jc are fabricated using the standard selective Nb etching process. Tunnel barriers are formed in different oxygen exposure conditions （oxygen pressure P and oxidation time t）, giving rise to Jc ranging from 100A/cm^2 to above 2000A/cm^2. Jc shows a familiar linear dependence on P×t in logarithmic scales. We calculate the energy levels of the phase- and flux-type qubits using the achievable junction parameters and show that the fabricated Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions can be used conveniently for quantum computation applications in the future.
Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions are often used in the studies of macroscopic quantum phenomena and superconducting qubit applications of the Josephson devices. In this work, we describe a convenient and reliable process using electron beam lithography for the fabrication of high-quality, submicron-sized Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb Josephson junctions. The technique follows the well-known selective Nb etching process and produces high-quality junctions with Vm=100 mV at 2.3 K for the typical critical current density of 2.2 kA/cm^2, which can be adjusted by controlling the oxygen pressure and oxidation time during the formation of the tunnelling barrier. We present the results of the temperature dependence of the sub-gap current and in-plane magnetic-field dependence of the critical current, and compare them with the theoretical predictions.
Superconductivity was achieved in Ti-doped iron-arsenide compound Sr4Cr0.8Ti1.2O6Fe2As2 (abbreviated as Cr-FeAs-42622). The X-ray diffraction measurement shows that this material has a layered structure with the space group of P4/nmm,and with the lattice constants a = b = 3.9003 and c = 15.8376 . Clear diamagnetic signals in ac susceptibility data and zero-resistance in resistivity data were detected at about 6 K,confirming the occurrence of bulk superconductivity. Meanwhile we observed a supercon-ducting transition in the resistive data with the onset transition temperature at 29.2 K,which may be induced by the nonuniform distribution of the Cr/Ti content in the FeAs-42622 phase.
ZHU XiYu,HAN Fei,MU Gang,CHENG Peng,SHEN Bing,ZENG Bin & WEN HaiHu National Laboratory for Superconductivity,Institute of Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100190,China
Switching current distributions of an Nb/Al-AlO2/Nb Josephson junction are measured in a temperature range from 25 mK to 800 mK. We analyse the phase escape properties by using the theory of Larkin and Ovchinnikov （LO） which takes discrete energy levels into account. Our results show that the phase escape can be well described by the LO approach for temperatures near and below the crossover from thermal activation to macroscopic quantum tunneling. These results are helpful for further study of macroscopic quantum phenomena in Josephson junctions where discrete energy levels need to be considered.
