Thermochemical analysis of magnesium diboride thin film synthesis and its application to Josephson junction fabrication

MgB2 is an unusual binary metallic superconductor in that it has a transition temperature of almost twice that of other metallic compounds and possesses two superconductor gaps. It has proven to be difficult to fabricate in thin film form, predominantly as a result of the high volatility of Mg. In this thesis, critical factors involved in MgB2 thin film growth and the synthesis of multilayer MgB2 Josephson junctions have been studied.; The thermochemistry of MgB2 thin film growth has been investigated. The low Mg sticking coefficient at temperatures over 300°C prevents high temperature synthesis with traditional vacuum growth methods. However, as a result of the large kinetic barrier to MgB2 decomposition, metastable growth and subsequent thermal processing is possible. The Mg sticking coefficient is found to be strongly dependent upon B flux. High Mg and B fluxes make it possible to extend the processing window to elevated temperatures by enhancing the Mg sticking coefficient. A transition temperature of 37∼38K was achieved using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).; For the fabrication of Josephson junctions, various barrier layers including native oxide, boron, AIN, and thermal oxide were explored. Cross-bridge junction structures were fabricated using shadow masks. Repeatable tunneling characteristics were observed from metal/native oxide/MgB2 junctions. MgB 2 energy gaps and density of states, as well as the barrier's height and thickness, have been inferred from tunneling conductance measurements. MgB2/native oxide or boron/MgB2 junctions with 1mm 2 areas were fabricated and also exhibited tunneling characteristics. The junctions produced with the cross geometry process have a Josephson coupling energy that is too small compared to the thermal energy to exhibit supercurrent as a result of the junction's large size and high resistance. To overcome this limitation, planar type junctions were prepared using conventional microfabrication techniques. MgB2,/AlN/MgB2 and MgB2/thermal oxide/MgB2 structures fabricated in-situ by MBE exhibit RSJ (resistively shunted junction) Josephson characteristics. Tunneling characteristics have not been observed from these structures, indicating that the insulating tunnel barriers probably have pinholes. The results of our studies indicate that MgB2 Josephson junction technology may have important applications and is of interest to both the practical and fundamental scientific community.