Experimental observation of subharmonic gap structures in long Josephson junctions

The subharmonic gap structure (SGS) in long-overlap Nb-AlOx-Nb Josephson tunnel junctions has been investigated. The experimental results show peaks in the differential conductance at both odd and even integer fractions of the gap voltage, VG Furthermore, the conductance peaks at V-G/2 has been observed to split into two peaks with different characteristics. At high magnetic fields, the I-V characteristics approach a single curve, while retaining the SGS conductance peaks. The gap structure and the SGS show the same temperature dependence. The SGS can be explained by a Josephson self-coupling effect or multiple Andreev reflections. The results are important for the development of the flux flow oscillator used a local oscillator in integrated all-superconducting 200-800 GHz receivers.