Fabrication of stable and reproducible submicron tunnel junctions

The authors have performed a detailed study of the time stability and reproducibility of submicron Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions, fabricated using standard double angle shadow evaporations. The authors have found that by aggressively cleaning the substrate before the evaporations; thus preventing any contamination of the junction, they obtained perfectly stable oxide barriers. The authors also present measurements on large ensembles of junctions which prove the reproducibility of the fabrication process. The measured tunnel resistance variance in large ensembles of identically fabricated junctions is in the range of only a few percent. Finally, the authors have studied the effect of different thermal treatments on the junction barrier. This is especially important for multiple step fabrication processes which imply annealing the junction. (C) 2012 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3673790]