Atomic structure of a NbTiN/AlN/NbTiN Josephson junction grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

Abstract

Nanometer-scale crystallographic structure and orientation of a NbTiN/AlN/NbTiN device stack grown via plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on c-plane sapphire are reported. Structure, orientation, interface roughness, and thickness are investigated using correlative four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography (APT). This work finds NbTiN that is rock salt structured and highly oriented toward ⟨111⟩ with rotations about that axis corresponding to step edges in the c-plane sapphire with a myriad of twin boundaries that exhibit nanoscale spacing. The wurtzite (0001) AlN film grown on (111) NbTiN exhibits nm-scale changes in the thickness resulting in pinhole shorts across the barrier junction. The NbTiN overlayer grown on AlN is polycrystalline, randomly oriented, and highly strained. APT was also used to determine local changes in chemistry within the superconductor and dielectric. Deviation from both intended cation:cation and cation:anion ratios are observed. The results from conventional and nanoscale metrology highlight the challenges of engineering nitride trilayer heterostructures in material systems with complicated and understudied phase space.