Radiation sensing device and josephson device

Abstract

A superconducting tunnel junction radiation sensing device includes first and second superconductor electrodes and a tunnel barrier layer interposed therebetween. The tunnel barrier layer is made up of a thin-wall portion and a thick-wall portion each formed of a semiconductor or an insulator, and each having opposite surfaces respectively contacting the first and second superconductor electrodes, and each extending adjacent each other in a same horizontal plane between the first and second electrodes. The thick-wall portion has a vertical thickness which is at least twice that of the thin-wall portion. Furthermore, the thickness of the thin-wall portion is such that a tunnel effect is enabled therethrough form the first electrode to the second electrode, and the thickness of the thick-wall portion is such that a tunnel effect is substantially prohibited therethrough from the first electrode to the second electrode. The thin-wall portion along the same horizontal plane is substantially evenly distributed in a cross-sectional pattern within the tunnel barrier layer, the cross-sectional pattern being either an intermittent pattern or a continuous pattern. Furthermore, the cross-sectional area along the same horizontal plane of the thin-wall portion is less than that of the thick-wall portion.