Bell Telephone Laboratories

Joanna M Vandenberg

Arthur F Hebard

This invention relates to granular metal and metal oxide superconducting films formed by ion beam sputter deposition. Illustratively, the films comprise irregularly shaped, randomly oriented, small lead grains interspersed in an insulating lead oxide matrix. The films are hillock-resistant when subjected to thermal cycling and exhibit unusual Josephson-type switching characteristics. Depending on the oxygen content, a film may behave in a manner similar to that of a plurality of series connected Josephson junctions, or the film may have a voltage difference in a direction parallel to a major surface of the film that is capable of being switched from zero voltage difference to a finite voltage difference in response to a current larger than the critical current.

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Summit, NJ, United States of America

Joanna M Vandenberg