Device Applications of Superconductive Tunneling

Abstract

Although superconductive tunneling has proved to be a very useful tool for investigating the phenomenon of superconductivity, it also has many potential device applications worth further development. Examples of such devices based on the tunneling of normal electrons might include an rf oscillator and amplifier, a low-temperature thermometer, and a generator and detector of microwave phonons. Examples of devices based on the tunneling of paired electrons, that is, the dc and ac Josephson effects, might include a magnetometer, computer elements, a generator and detector of microwave radiation, and a voltage standard. It is the purpose of this paper to briefly review normal electron tunneling as well as the dc and ac Josephson effects, how these different tunneling phenomena manifest themselves, and how these manifestations can be used for these several device applications.