Superconductor–insulator–superconductor tunnel strip line: Features and applications

The superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction based on Nb material has been investigated theoretically at frequencies of 200–1400 GHz by modeling it as a segment of a superconducting microstrip transmission line and using the Mattis–Bardeen theory of anomalous skin effect. The modeling was used to predict the performance of a flux‐flow oscillator (FFO) and a SIS frequency down‐converter (mixer). It is shown that in a FFO the internal loss (quasiparticle and surface) limits flux flow to the frequency band of 260–770 GHz. A SIS junction of micron size employed as a mixer for frequency down‐conversion demonstrates distributed behavior at frequencies above 550 GHz. We suggest that electrically long SIS junctions of resonant size can be used as self‐compensating mixing elements with attractive performance in Nb as well as NbN mixers.

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