Distinguished Professor Mark Law has received funding from the Army Research Office for his project “ColdPhase: Improved Junctions and Circuits.” The $425k project works to develop a combined tool with process and device modeling capability for Josephson Junction stacks based on NbTiN deposited using either PEALD or reactive sputtering.
Not sure what that means, exactly? Dr. Law explains:
Normal Josephson Junctions are a sandwich of a superconductor/insulator/superconductor—historically, Niobium/Aluminum Oxide/Niobium. Scaling that metal stack is difficult, so this contract will focus on developing alternate materials including a magnetic layer instead of insulator.
Dr. Law’s portion of the overall project is to develop modeling tools to predict the formation and performance of these new materials in a Josephson Junction.