Three-terminal stand-alone superconducting terahertz emitter

• DOI: 10.1063/1.4931623
• Publication Date: 2015-09-23T17:00:57Z
• Authors: Xianjing Zhou; Qiang Zhu; Min Ji; Deyue An; Luyao Hao; Hancong Sun; Shigeyuki Ishida; Fabian Rudau; Raphael Wieland; Jun Li; Dieter Koelle; Hiroshi Eisaki; Yoshiyuki Yoshida; Takeshi Hatano; Reinhold Kleiner; Huabing Wang; Peiheng Wu
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy

We report on the electrothermal behavior and the terahertz emission properties of a stand-alone Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 intrinsic Josephson junction stack contacted in a three-terminal configuration. One terminal is used as a collective ground while the other two, contacting the stack from its right and left side, allow to vary the current injection profile. At high bias, a hot spot forms in the stack. Its appearance and position can be controlled by varying the ratios of the injected currents. Depending on this ratio, the emitted power can vary by an order of magnitude. Further, for a given total injection current, the device allows to vary the emission frequency on a 10% level by altering the injection profile. The overall tunability of the emission frequency, varying also the total bias current, is on the order of 20%.