1/f noise of Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy intrinsic Josephson junctions

We have measured the low-frequency voltage noise properties across mesa stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy (BSCCO) single crystals as a function of bias voltage. The BSCCO mesas with area of 160x40 mum(2) were fabricated on the surface of cleaved BSCCO single crystals using standard photolithography and Ar ion-milling techniques. The measured noise voltage spectrum density S-V(f ) had a 1/f dependence on frequency. The magnitude of the 1/f noise spectra was found to increase monotonically with the branch number in the I-V characteristic at fixed bias current, and no anomalously enhanced 1/f noise was observed. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.