ABSTRACT
We have already seen, in Chapter 2, that the complex response of a Josephson junction to applied electromagnetic radiation forms a basis for both broad-band and heterodyne detection modes, ranging from low frequencies to the far-infrared. Greater detail of actual working devices of this type will be given in this chapter. The second topic dealt with is digital applications of squids. This is already a significant, and may in the future become a dominant, use of low-power superconducting technology. At first sight the contents of this chapter may seem to divide into two rather disconnected areas. However, logic devices have two important characteristics in common with radiation detectors: first, both involve very high-frequency operation, since slow digital devices are of little or no practical interest. Second, both applications demand the use of well characterised and reproducible small-area junctions with similar parameters. In what follows, more details of junction fabrication methods will be given than have been discussed earlier in the book. This reflects the fact that well defined junction properties are of the utmost importance in achieving high performance in these areas. It seems paradoxical that squids, for all their unparalleled sensitivity, will operate very satisfactorily with far from ideal Josephson junctions. This is mainly because squids have only been used in rather low-frequency applications, for which the low resistive and reactive impedances associated with poor-quality junctions do not limit performance.
