Double oxidation scheme for tunnel junction fabrication

The authors report a method to achieve Al-AlOx-Al tunnel junctions with high specific resistance in a controlled manner using a double oxidation technique. The technique is based on the standard method for oxidation repeated on an additional Al layer. The tunnel junctions were characterized with standard methods, such as comparison of room temperature resistance with liquid helium resistance and the authors found them to be of comparable quality to junctions fabricated with standard single oxidation. Fitting with the Simmons model suggests that both the barrier width and barrier height are consistent with those obtained in a single oxidation step. The junction specific capacitance was determined at low temperature to be 68 fF/mu m(2). These junctions, employed in low temperature measurements and applications, demonstrate expected and stable conductance characteristics. The double oxidation method is straightforward to implement in a basic setup for tunnel junction fabrication. (C) 2008 American Vacuum Society.