Superconducting tunnel junctions on MgB2 using MgO and CaF2 as a barrier

We report the fabrication of superconducting tunnel junctions, both of superconductor-insulator-normal metal (SIN) and superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS), on MgB2 using MgO and CaF2 as a barrier. The SIN junctions fabricated using an MgO barrier showed excellent quasi-particle characteristics, including a large superconducting gap (Δ) of 2.5-3 meV and a low zero-bias conductance. We have also fabricated SIS junctions with an MgO barrier, but the quasi-particle characteristics of the SIS junctions are not as good as those of the SIN junctions, namely a reduced superconducting gap and a high zero-bias conductance. It appears that top MgB2 electrodes do not grow well on an MgO barrier, which is also suggested from in-situ RHEED observation. The SIN junctions fabricated using a CaF2 barrier showed less sharp quasi-particle characteristics than using an MgO barrier. However, the SIS junctions using a CaF2 barrier showed a fairly large IcRN value at 4.2 K over 1 mV and also exhibited finite Josephson current up to almost the film's Tc (∼30 K). The RHEED observation revealed that top MgB2 electrodes grow well on a CaF2 barrier.