TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gundareva, Irina
AU  - Martinez-Castro, Jose
AU  - Tautz, Frank Stefan
AU  - Mussler, Gregor
AU  - Jalil, Abdur Rehman
AU  - Hou, Xiao
AU  - Grützmacher, Detlev
AU  - Schäpers, Thomas
AU  - Lyatti, Matvey
TI  - Induced superconductivity in hybrid Au/YBa2Cu3O7−x electrodes on vicinal substrates
JO  - Scientific reports
VL  - 15
IS  - 1
SN  - 2045-2322
CY  - [London]
PB  - Springer Nature
M1  - FZJ-2025-03653
SP  - 32282
PY  - 2025
AB  - Superconducting electrodes are an integral part of hybrid Josephson junctions used in many applications including quantum technologies. We report on the fabrication and characterization of superconducting hybrid Au/YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) electrodes on vicinal substrates. In these structures, superconducting CuO2-planes face the gold film, resulting in a higher value and smaller variation of the induced energy gap compared to conventional Au/YBCO electrodes based on films with the c-axis normal to the substrate surface. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we observe an energy gap of about 10–17 meV at the surface of the 15- nm-thick gold layer deposited in situ atop the YBCO film. To study the origin of this gap, we fabricate nanoconstrictions from the Au/YBCO heterostructures and measure their electrical transport characteristics. The conductance of the nanoconstrictions shows a series of dips due to multiple Andreev reflections in YBCO and gold, providing clear evidence of the superconducting nature of the gap in gold. We consider the Au/YBCO electrodes to be a versatile platform for hybrid Josephson devices with a high operating temperature.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - 40890252
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:001565533400005
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-17434-y
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1046008
ER  -