Improving the Josephson energy in High-T$_c$ superconducting junctions for ultra-fast electronics

We report the electrical transport in vertical Josephson tunnel junctions (area 400 $\mu m$$^2$) using GdBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$$_{-\delta}$ electrodes and SrTiO$_3$ as an insulating barrier (with thicknesses between 1 nm and 4 nm). The results show Josephson coupling for junctions with SrTiO$_3$ barriers of 1 nm and 2 nm. The latter displays a Josephson of 8.9 mV at 12 K. This value is larger than the usually observed in planar arrays of junctions. Our results are promising for the development of superconducting electronic devices in the terahertz regime.
Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures