Proximitized Josephson junctions in highly-doped InAs nanowires robust to optical illumination

TL;DR

This study investigates how optical-frequency light affects highly-doped InAs/Al Josephson junctions, revealing their robustness to optical illumination primarily through heating effects, with implications for quantum photonic integration.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of optical effects on proximitized InAs nanowire Josephson junctions, demonstrating their robustness and modeling their behavior under photon exposure.

Findings

Junctions are robust to optical radiation, mainly affected by heating.

Above critical current, non-thermal photon effects are observed.

Guidelines for integrating Josephson junctions with quantum photonic circuits.

Abstract

We have studied the effects of optical-frequency light on proximitized InAs/Al Josephson junctions based on highly n-doped InAs nanowires at varying incident photon flux and at three different photon wavelengths. The experimentally obtained IV curves were modeled using a shunted junction model which takes scattering at the contact interfaces into account. The Josephson junctions were found to be surprisingly robust, interacting with the incident radiation only through heating, whereas above the critical current our devices showed non-thermal effects resulting from photon exposure. Our work provides important guidelines for the co-integration of Josephson junctions alongside quantum photonic circuits and lays the foundation for future work on nanowire-based hybrid photon detectors.