Fluxon modes and phase-locking at 600 GHz in superconducting tunnel junction nonuniform arrays

International audienceWe investigated parallel arrays of superconducting Nb/AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions nonevenly distributed in a superconducting Nb/SiO/Nb microstrip transmission line. Such devices are discretized Josephson transmission lines (DJTLs) in which, from theory, magnetic flux quanta (``fluxons'') can travel as solitonic waves when a dc current bias and a dc magnetic field are applied. We observed a reproducible series of resonant branches in each device's I-V curve, at Josephson submillimeter-wave frequencies (from 240 to 720 GHz) matching the resonances predicted using a transmission line analysis, where the loading of the N=5 junctions is fully taken into account. The nonperiodic distribution was optimized to provide rf matching over a large bandwidth (450-650 GHz typically), implying that the plasma resonance of junctions is inductively tuned out over a similar band by the array. A confirmation of this comes from the observation, at frequencies higher than the untuned junctions plasma frequency, of several Josephson phenomena reported in this article: Fiske-like resonances, phase-locking of the n=3 resonance to an external 600 GHz microwave source, rf-induced zero crossing, and resonances at fractional harmonics of the rf signal. These experimental results are all compatible with a fluxon-based resonances interpretation, as in the extensively studied long Josephson junctions yet at higher frequencies. As reported elsewhere, we could detect ~500 GHz microwave radiation emitted by our devices in the n=1 and n=3 modes. In light of these unique properties, we propose nonuniform DJTLs as a promising type of Josephson device for submillimeter-wave oscillators and fast fluxon-based electronics