Thermal Management in Large Bi2212 Mesas Used for Terahertz Sources

Abstract

We present a thermal analysis of a patterned mesa on a Bi 2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) single crystal that is based on tunneling characteristics of the c-axis stack of ~800 intrinsic Josephson junctions in the mesa. Despite the large mesa volume (e.g., 40 x 300 x 1.2 μm3) and power dissipation that result in self-heating and backbending of the current-voltage curve (I-V), there are accessible bias conditions for which significant polarized THz-wave emission can be observed. We estimate the mesa temperature by equating the quasiparticle resistance, Rqp(T), to the ratio V/I over the entire I-V including the backbending region. These temperatures are used to predict the unpolarized black-body radiation reaching our bolometer and there is substantial agreement over the entire I-V. As such, backbending results from the particular R qp (T) for Bi2212, as first discussed by Fenton, rather than a significant suppression of the energy gap. This model also correctly predicts the observed disappearance of backbending above ~60 K.

Department(s)

Physics

Second Department

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

A-thermal; Bi-2212; Bi2sr2CaCu2o8 (Bi2212) crystals; Bias conditions; Current voltage curve; Intrinsic Josephson junction; Intrinsic josephson junctions; Mesa structure; Patterned mesas; Power dissipation; Quasi particles; Self-heating; Terahertz emission; Terahertz sources; Thermal management; Tunneling characteristics; Wave emissions; Electric potential; Heating; Josephson junction devices; Joule heating; Single crystals; Thermoanalysis; Crystal structure

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1051-8223

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2009 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2009

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