High-Tc Josephson Junction Arrays for THz Applications

High-T _c superconductors (HTS) like yttrium barium copper oxide (YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7-x ) pave the way towards readily available and precise voltage standards at liquid nitrogen temperatures. They can be driven by terahertz radiation, thus achieving higher output voltages with a significantly reduced junction count. The reduced effort in cooling also simplifies the overall application. The use of a gallium focused ion beam (Ga-FIB) represents a promising method to tailor the geometry of Josephson junctions after conventional patterning of an array to tune the junction parameters individually. In this work, we present a Josephson junction array made from the HTS YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7-x based on grain-boundary Josephson junctions. The junction parameters are investigated and afterwards the influence of the Ga-FIB on the junctions is examined. This serves as an important step to show the suitability of this process for HTS voltage standards. Furthermore, the high frequency properties of the array and the associated Shapiro steps are characterized in the terahertz range. This technique represents an important step towards versatile HTS voltage standards.