Superconducting field effect devices with thin channel layer
AssigneeUniversity of Maryland
InventorsXiaoxing Xi, Chris Doughty, Thirumalai Venkatesan
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Abstract
A superconducting field effect device includes a substrate with an epitaxial superconducting film upon it and an insulating layer above a thinner region of the film which protects the film from the atmosphere and isolates it from a gate electrode which is on the insulating layer above a channel region of the thin film, and the epitaxial film has thicker regions suitable for contact to source and drain electrodes. Gate electrodes may be isolated from and oppose both sides of the superconducting thin regions so that enhanced modulation of a current in the thin region is provided. The invention provides high speed and high efficiency switches and modulators.
Claims50
A superconducting device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- a film of a superconducting material above the substrate and having a lower surface epitaxially connected thereto, the film having a thick region and a thin region which is thinner than said thick region, wherein the thin region has a thickness less than 20 times the coherence length of bulk material which comprises the same material as the superconducting film.
A superconducting device, comprising:
- a first unit including a thin film of a superconducting material with an upper and a lower surface which forms a channel layer;
- an upper surface of a lower insulating gate layer epitaxially connected to the lower surface of the superconducting film and a lower surface of an upper insulating gate layer epitaxially connected to the upper surface of the superconducting film;
- a lower gate electrode below the lower insulating gate;
- an upper gate electrode above the upper insulating gate layer and;
- wherein the thickness of the thin film is less than 20 times the coherence length of a bulk material of the same material as the thin film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.