Proximity effect in BSCCO intrinsic Josephson junctions contacted with a normal metal layer

Abstract

Superconductivity proximity effect is numerically evaluated based on McMillan's tunneling proximity model for a sandwich of a normal metal layer on top of the surface superconducting layer of intrinsic Josephson junctions in a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO) crystal. Due to the very thin thickness of 0.3 nm of the superconducting layer in IJJs, the surface layer is subject to influence of the proximity effect when the top layer is contacted with a normal metal layer. The effect manifests itself as a significant change in the characteristics of the IJJ surface Josephson junction. It is found that when the superconducting layer thickness is smaller than 0.6 nm, the pair potential reduces significantly, leading to an almost complete suppression of the critical Josephson current density for the surface junction. This result can partly explain the experimental results on the IJJ characteristics of a mesa type structure.